{"references": ["Bonnaterre, J. P. (1788) Tableau encyclopedique et methodique des trois regnes de la nature. Ichthyologie, Paris, 215 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 11660", "Compagno, L. J. V. (1999) An overview of chondrichthyan systematics and biodiversity in southern Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 54, 75 - 120. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00359199909520406", "Ebert, D. A. & Dando, M. (2014) On Board Guide for the Identification of Pelagic Sharks and Rays of the Western Indian Ocean. SmartFish Programme, FAO, Rome & Indian Ocean Commission, Port Louis, 109 pp.", "Ebert, D. A. & van Hees, K. E. (2015) Beyond jaws: rediscovering the \" Lost Sharks \" of southern Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 37, 141 - 156. https: // doi. org / 10.2989 / 1814232 X. 2015.1048730", "Weigmann, S. (2016) Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity. Journal of Fish Biology, 88, 837 - 1037. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / jfb. 12874", "White, W. T., Corrigan, S., Yang, L., Henderson, A. C., Bazinet, A. L., Swofford, D. L. & Naylor, G. J. P. (2018) Phylogeny of the manta and devilrays (Chondrichthyes: Mobulidae), with an updated taxonomic arrangement for the family. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 182 (1), 50 - 75. https: // doi. org / 10.1093 / zoolinnean / zlx 018"]}

Mobula mobular (Bonnaterre, 1788) Giant Devil Ray Raia mobular Bonnaterre, 1788: 5. No types known. Type locality: Montredon, near Marseille, France, western Mediterranean Sea. Local synonymy: Mobula japanica: Compagno, 1999: 118; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 103, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 148; Weigmann, 2016: 982. South Africa voucher material: SAIAB uncatalogued. South African distribution: East of Port Alfred (EC) and the KZN coast. Remarks: White et al. (2018) synonymized Mobula mobular (previously considered a Mediterranean Sea endemic) with M. japonica with precedence given to the name M. mobular. Records from off South Africa are not well documented. Conservation status: EN (2020).

Published as part of Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 4947 (1) on page 101, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4947.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4614567