Scott M. Hurst, age 8, of Logan, West Virginia, for his question:

What is a manta ray?

The manta ray looks like a huge, weird visitor from another world. But he is a true earthling and his ancestors have lived in our oceans for millions and millions of years. Skin divers  sometimes catch a glimpse of him in warm, tropical seas, flapping through the murky water somewhat like a huge, lazy bat. Sometimes he takes a giant leap high into the air and splashes down with a thunderous wallop. But most of the time he lies flat on the bottom or flaps through the water.

You might never guess it, but the manta ray belongs to the shark tribe. Most sharks are large, streamlined fishes    very swift and very strong. The manta ray is large and also very strong. But his body is shaped like a big wide diamond with a long skinny tail. When he swims, his tapering sides move like a pair of enormous wings. In his lazy way, he seems to flap through the water like a flying bird. Actually, those enormous wings are special fins.

The sight of him is astonishing. The size of him is even more astonishing. His diamond shaped body may be more than 20 feet wide. This is longer than three very tall men. On the scales, he weighs about 3,000 pounds, or 1 1/2 tons. He weighs as much as ten very big, fat men. A fellow this big is bound to be a bit scary  ¬especially since he has a large open mouth, a glassy stare and two curved horns on his head. We can hardly blame the people who named him the Devilfish. But the manta does not deserve this fierce name at all, for he is a very gentle giant.

Most of his sharky cousins are bloodthirsty hunters, always famished and eager to tear into meat. They devour fishes and even human swimmers. The manta ray is content to feed on small snacks. He scoops up mouthfuls of tiny plants, fish eggs and miniature fishes. He may eat a snack as large as a shrimp and some people say he may lunch on a clam. But he never bites into a skin diver    nor does he try to smash people with his mighty wings. Usually he ignores them or swims away. However, he likes to nuzzle a dangling line and sometimes he breaks an air hose. And, of course, when he leaps 15 feet above the water, he may chance to bellyflop down on a boat. But naturally this is an accident.

Many other sharks lay eggs sealed in hard cases. But Mrs. Manta Ray gives birth to a live baby and Junior is an only child. His mother is quite likely to toss him playfully way up into the air. This is quite something, for the newborn baby may weigh 30 pounds.

There are about 400 assorted members of the shark tribe. The manta ray has several smaller cousins    and some of them lash fierce stinging tails. The rays and all the other shark fishes have bones made of gristle, also leathery skins and gills that look somewhat like slits in a venetian blind.