A genus of tropical rays with a distinctive head shaped like a hammer or shovel.
From Greek 'kephale' (head) + '-pterus' (wing or fin, from 'pteron'). The genus name means 'head-wing' or 'head-fin,' referring to the animal's expanded head structure used in swimming and feeding.
The manta ray and its cousins in Cephalopterus were named by early naturalists who were struck by one thing: that enormous flattened head looks like it has wings—not very scientific, but such an accurate first impression that the name stuck.
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