Manta

"I think you'll be surprised, the smaller size makes it extremely maneuverable."

- Jen about Manta size

The Manta is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved.

Behavior
While its dossier describes the manta to be a docile creature, it is actually anything but docile. Simply swimming near them is reason enough for them to attack the player. They also seem to actively seek out their prey, as tamed aquatic creatures 'parked' near the coast will be regularly attacked by them as well. Mantas usually swim together in groups of three.

Appearance
The Manta is an odd-looking fish that lives in the island's deeper offshore waters. A wide-bodied plankton-eater with distinctive trailing barbules, M. mobula is nevertheless a dangerous creature due to the barbed stinger it carries on its tail. Between this weapon and its fast swimming speed, they are rarely bothered by larger predators.

Strategy
The Manta is tamed passively, meaning it must not be rendered unconscious before taming it. This is kind of similar to the and. However, the main problem you are going to face is that unlike the Ichthy and Mesopithecus, the Manta is a hostile creature which makes this tame very frustrating and, due to the Manta's high damage output, even dangerous. Mantas are tamed using, which is dropped by the.

It seems the feeding counter has 2 different ways to count down. When attacking, the Manta becomes hungry a lot quicker (feeding ~every 20 seconds), in other circumstances it takes ~ 1 minute until you can feed him again. Needs further checking.

There are multiple strategies you can use to tame one.

Basilosaurus

The mantas swarming around a Basilosaurus seem pacified and won't attack survivors even if touched, unless something sets them off like a "free-range" manta attacking your mount, or the Basilosaurus eating something and activating the group aggro. You will need scuba fins to keep up with the Basilosaurus's wandering, and Lazarus Chowder or a scuba tank are recommended for oxygen, but you don't strictly need a mount (though a strong one is recommended in case you make a mistake and the mantas all attack you.) Bring extra AnglerGel due to the difficulty of pinpointing a single manta in the swarm; it is easiest to just feed and tame all of them as you're able to get within feeding range. (Tested on SP)

Bug Repellant

works against their aggro radius. Use an amphibious mount to lure them into very shallow water (so they can't go up or down), jump on land, apply Bug Repellant on yourself, put on your scuba fins and approach the manta from the rear. You can touch his stingers and his rear end of the "wings" without him attacking you. Just don't come in contact with his forward parts, upper side or underside and everything will be alright (by going into very shallow, you can not come in contact with lower and upper side, making the process a lot(!) easier).

If they start to wander off to deeper waters, go in with your mount again and bait them back to the shallow.

also assist greatly in evasion should it became angered making the taming process a game of "Feed and Run" just go to shore and it'll lose aggro making a Trap completely unnecessary.

High Mounts

Take a rather large mount, such as a, or , and go to shallow waters near the coast. Find a spot of water that is shallow enough for your mount to stand in, but is too deep for your character to stand in, causing him to swim. You then need to lure one Manta to the shallow spot near your mount. The trick here is that Manta's do not attack creatures standing in water, but only the ones swimming in it. So to tame the Manta with this trick, follow these steps:
 * 1) Lure the Manta near you by swimming in the water near your mount.
 * 2) When its near, try to feed it and then quickly mount your pet to make the Manta stop attacking.
 * 3) If the manta is close to your mount, dismount, jump near it and try to feed it again, after which you will go on your mount again. Repeat this step until the creature is yours.

When sitting on your mount, the Manta will probably swim away, as it has no targets near it. To lure it back to you, simply follow step 1 again. It might also be advisable to take some with you, due to the Manta's huge damage output.

Using a raft

Stand on a rock or a boat edge close enough to feed the Manta, but not so close it can bite you. Be careful of jumping Manta knocking you into the water.

Building an under boat metal cage works well to stay inside cage underwater and let the Manta try to get in through a doorway. They won't be able to get in, but you can get close enough to feed them. The distance to feed is just ever so slightly greater than their striking range, so you should stay safe as long as you don't get closer than necessary.

Trapping with doorframes

Stone Doorframe trapping is very efficient if you want to tame a Manta solo. Build a Stone Foundation on a flat part in the water somewhere not too close to the shore. Place three stone doorframes around the perimeter, leave one empty slot. Aggro a Manta and lure it to your structure. Swim in through the open slot and swim out the stone doorframe opposite to it so that the Manta will get stuck. After this, slowly swim towards it so you can place the final stone doorframe behind it to ultimately trap it. Be careful though, if you get too close to the open stone doorframe the Manta might be able to hit you!

Alternatively an may be used however this requires four Stone foundations and an minimum of 8 doorframes

Preferred Food
*Only for taming. Will not eat it once tamed but eats Meat like a normal carnivore.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Manta.

General
The Manta has a melee attack strong enough to rival a Megalodon; not only do they spawn in the deep sea, but they also spawn near the surface swimming peacefully with Megalodons. This now makes the sea much more dangerous, especially for low-mid level players; Even high level players might find they struggle with this creature. The only good thing is that the Manta has low health so it's not too hard to take one out.

Strategy
Mantas have low health, but are fast. Either kite it towards land so you can easily shoot it, or take a big risk and use a crossbow underwater to kill it. Due to their high damage, they will typically destroy flippers within 3 hits, so in order to out-swim and/or hunt mantas underwater you'll also need a high Oxygen stat. Beware that mantas usually are found in small packs of 2 to 4, and can easily block your movements by surrounding you.

Weaponry
Mantas can be taken out easily with even a Spear if run onto land, and stronger weapons make killing it a piece of cake.

Dangers
Manta's melee is very strong and they are fast. It is not recommended to go head to head with these, but rather use a mount to take one out. Even low level ones can shred through armor easily.

They will destroy SCUBA Gear in 3 hits. Without the Scuba flippers you are very unlikely to outrun them so be careful!

Even full Flak can get shredded within 6-8 hits.

Be cautious around other Mantas, as conflict with one will divert the attention of other Mantas in the area toward the player, even if they were not part of the original pack.

Weakness
It happens they commit suicide (including tamed ones) by jumping onto the beach or rocks. They also have a low health stat in general which makes them die fast when fighting. Additionally, they appear to have considerably reduced damage resistance when run onto land.

Roles

 * Scout: Its flat shape allows you to peek just above surface water while the manta and your torso are both hidden under the water.
 * War: Too frail to be an effective war beast (unless you have a good saddle), mantas excels in swift pokes and harassing enemies sea creatures. However, using hit-and-run tactics such as attacking from behind and the side can be used to kill wild plesiosaur and even mosasaurs. Simply speed up to a creature and attack it from above. The downwards attack of its tail is useful, as it allows you to swiftly hit-and-run without getting hit at all. DON'T LEVEL UP HEALTH; the stats increase is extremely low. Instead, just level melee.
 * Underwater Farming: Its base speed is faster than an Ichthy- which makes it good for underwater beacon/resource farming.
 * Explorer: The manta is the ideal underwater exploration mount due to its speed. It can also defend itself handily against predators such as plesiosaurs. Level up speed.
 * Transport: The manta is a great choice for transport, as it is fast and can defend itself well.
 * Travel: Mantas are fast and a great mounts to travel around in water, with their ability to jump the manta can go over obstacles that get in the way of other aquatic creatures. With their flat bodies mantas can move through shallow water that large sea creatures can't access.

Notes/Trivia

 * Be careful of Itchies near shallow waters as they can unintentionally beach your manta by raising it out the water.
 * The Manta is unable to swim on the sand.
 * The Dossier was revealed on 9/16/15 on Steam.
 * Real-life Mantas are gentle giants which lack stingers.
 * Among fish, Mantas have the largest brain relative to their body size.
 * The Dossier mentions "A quick jab through the heart" and features a survivor's chest being pierced from behind by a manta. This might be a reference to Australian wildlife expert, television personality, and conservationist Steve Irwin (nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter"), who died when a stingray barb pierced his chest.
 * Despite the dossier saying the Manta can be ridden bareback, it has a saddle.
 * Despite the dossier saying it eats plankton, they will kill and eat animals (and players) that wander into their waters from land.
 * The species name mobula may refer to the prehistoric ray Paramobula, which was initially believed to be a member of the Manta family. It may also be a reference to the ray genus Mobula.
 * At release, some Manta spawn upside down or even sideways. They can be tamed and ridden upside down. There is no known way to 'flip' them the right way.
 * Mantas do not produce.
 * Real Mantas are carnivores just like Ark's Manta however when trying to tame one for some reason it won't eat any meat until after it has been tamed.
 * It is unknown why the Manta will only eat Anglerfish Gel when it is wild but won't eat it after it has been tamed.
 * This is most likely due to Angler Gel not actually being consumable at all.