The Mobulidae are a family of rays (manta rays and devilfishes) consisting mostly of large species living in the open ocean rather than on the sea bottom.
The Mobulidae have been variously considered a subfamily of the Myliobatidae by some authors, and a distinct family nby others, but recent work favors the latter. Two genera have been traditionally recognized, Manta and Mobula, but recent DNA analysis shows that Mobula as traditionally recognized is paraphyletic to manta rays, making Manta a junior synonym of Mobula and Mobula the only extant genus of the family.
Several genera of fossil mobulids are known from teeth, including Archaeomanta, Burnhamia, Eomobula, and Paramobula. The earliest records of mobulids are of Archaeomanta from the Early Paleocene. A potentially earlier record may be Cretomanta from the mid-Cretaceous, but this genus may represent a planktivorous shark potentially related to Aquilolamna.