Sympathy for the Devil Fish

In case you've never heard the Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the Devil; go ahead and watch this video. Not only will having the song in your head make this post make a lot more sense, but it's also one of my favorite songs of all time.

Below you'll find the Depth and Taxa version of the lyrics. There's some ambiguity as to which animal I'm talking about, so see if you can figure it out before the end.

Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a fish with planktonic taste
I’ve been around the whole wide world
Swum many a mile ‘cross the wastes

And I went  down to Africa
From the Azores, out at sea
Made the trip on currents

WOO! WOO!
Courtesy Grant Bishop via Flickr

that pushed me ‘long, and let me feed

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the fact that I’m so tame

We’re all ovo-vi-vipar-ous
When we know that it’s time, to give birth
Got a real long gestation

Often times, it’s two years

My bat like wings
Are the perfect things
For the heaving seas
That I slowly swim

WOO! WOO!
Courtesy Kevin Bryant via Flickr

Pleased to meet you
Hope you’ll guess my name, oh yeah
Ah what’s puzzling you
Is the fact that I’m so tame, oh yeah

I made the list
When your scientists
Noticed the decline
Of this group of mine
Men shouted out,
“Look at those devil horns!”
When really they
Are ce-pha-lic fins

Let me please introduce myself
I’m a fish of planktonic taste
And I’ve been trapped in big drift nets
Who just write me off as their bycatch

WOO! WOO!
Courtesy William Warby via Flickr

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the fact that I’m so tame

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what’s confusing you
Is the fact that I’m so tame

Just as all true seals are the phocidae
And all the squalids, sharks        
We're devil rays
just call me Mobula
Cause I’m in need of some defense

So if you catch me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and instinct
Use all your well-learned fishing tricks
Or I’ll end up, gone extinct, oh yeah

WOO! WOO!
Courtesy Patrick Neckman via Flickr

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what’s puzzling you
Is the fact that I’m so tame

So did you figure it out before the end? The animal is, of course, the last image: the giant devil ray (Mobula mobular). I hope you enjoyed the different format this week. If you have questions, or you'd like a little bit more traditional post about these beautiful fish, let me know in the comments!

References:

"Skates and Rays" The Shark Trust

http://www.sharktrust.org/en/skates_and_rays

"Mobula moblar: Devil Ray" Encyclopedia of Life

http://eol.org/pages/213344/overview