The Georgia Aquarium has added a second manta ray into The Home Depot’s Ocean Voyager gallery, the largest aquarium exhibit in the world with 6.3 million gallons of water.

The addition of the female manta ray makes
the Georgia Aquarium the only aquarium in
the United States to ever house two manta
rays, and one of only four aquariums in the world to display this species. The new manta ray will join the Aquarium’s original manta, Nandi, four whale sharks and thousands of other species of sharks, rays and fish in the exhibit.

The newest female manta, who measures more than 8 feet across and weighs approximately 425 pounds, was collected off of the coast of Florida. Manta rays are listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Threats to the animal include over fishing while producing few young over a lifetime.

                                                                                       The manta ray is the largest of all  rays, 
  weighing up to 6,000 lbs and measuring up
  to 26 feet in width. It has a unique body shape, 
  with an extremely broad head and an 
  enormous, wide mouth flanked by two
  broad, flexible lobes. These fins are kept rolled
  and pointed forward, except when the manta
  is feeding. Its tail is whip-like, but short, and
  doesnot have a barb or spine. The manta ray
  is primarily a plankton feeder, but also consumes small and moderate-sized fishes. Learn more about the manta ray in our Animal Guide.