🚩Giant Manta Ray被IUCN列為瀕危等級
Giant Manta Ray (Mobula birostris)，又稱鬼蝠魟/雙吻前口蝠鱝/魔鬼魚，近日於世界自然保育聯盟 (IUCN) 瀕危物種紅色名錄上被列為「瀕危」等級，與鯨鯊及綠海龜同為瀕危物種！亦是Manta Ray中首個物種被列為瀕危等級，其他Manta Ray屬易危等級。
瀕危物種(endangered species，簡稱EN)指物種有絕種危機，原因可以是天然環境改變或者人為濫捕影響。
Manta Ray 同樣是潛水員夢寐以求共游的海洋生物，能為海洋觀光業帶來豐富的收入。可惜近年Manta Ray的魚鰓(gill plates)成為了中藥中需求甚大的藥材，俗稱膨魚腮。為此，Manta Ray成為了漁業的目標被大量捕捉，遠遠超越此生物的繁殖週期(性晚熟，幾年才繁殖一次)可以追趕的速度，有了瀕臨絕種的危機。
十月底，香港海關曾檢獲約330公斤Manta Ray的鰓，估計市值約90萬港元。
希望大家可以關注，
不要傻傻的不知道吃了什麼進肚子。
//Sadly, their numbers have continued to decline. “Manta rays simply cannot withstand such pressures on their populations,” Dr. Marshall explains. “They have an extremely conservative reproductive strategy. They reach sexual maturity relatively late in life, they give birth to a single offspring every few years in the wild, they do not look after or defend their young and the offspring themselves are vulnerable when they are small and may not survive. In other words, as a species, they simply cannot reproduce fast enough to build back their numbers once they are depleted.”//
照片來源：Dr. Andrea Marshall
READ MORE：
https://marinemegafaunafoundation.org/blog/giant-manta-becomes-the-first-manta-ray-to-be-listed-as-an-endangered-species/
💩 ig : imsheeppoo
