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Mobula mobular, a mobulid species once considered a Mediterranean Sea endemic, has received its common name “giant devil ray” based on repeated misidentifications of oceanic manta rays, Mobula birostris, that had strayed into the Mediterranean, where they had never been reported from before. Based on the maximum known size (350 cm disc width) of M. mobular, when compared to some of its congenerics, the giant devil ray is not giant at all. A recent revision of the phylogeny and taxonomy of genus Mobula, which included, amongst other things, the decision to consider the circumtropical spinetail devil ray M. japanica a junior synonym of M. mobular, has caused the latter species to become circumglobal, and the only known mobulid with a tail spine. As a consequence, it is here recommended that the common name of M. mobular be “spinetail devil ray”.

Background A rapid marine fish biodiversity assessment and subsequent surveys were conducted at D’Arros Island and St. Joseph Atoll, Amirantes, Republic of Seychelles. Results Dive surveys recorded the first national occurrence of 16 reef associated fish species. Ten species had regionally cosmopolitan distributions in the West Indian Ocean and their occurrence in Seychelles was expected and confirmed. The occurrence of an additional six species represented range extensions of between approximately 2000 and 4300 km further than previously reported. Conclusions The results of this assessment suggest that the current ichthyofaunal diversity of the Amirantes Island group in the Republic of Seychelles may be underestimated and future surveys are likely to reveal the presence of additional species.