Manta rays' food-capturing mechanism may hold key to better filtration systems

phys.org ^ | September 26, 2018, | Oregon State University

[BenLurkin]

Published today in Science Advances, the findings explain that manta rays filter zooplankton, mesoplankton and microcrustaceans with an apparatus different from anything previously seen in any biological or industrial system.

"The most common type of filter is a sieve filter, where a particle-containing fluid is passed through a membrane with pores smaller than the particles," said study co-author Jim Strother, assistant professor of integrative biology in the OSU College of Science.

Sieve filters include everything from a kitchen colander that strains pasta to membrane filters that produce ultrapure water. Other filter mechanisms are hydrosol filtration, such as the fiber filters in HVAC systems, and cyclonic filtration, used in bagless vacuum cleaners.

"There are lots of different types of filters used for many purposes worldwide, but they're all based on just a few fundamental mechanisms," said Strother, who collaborated with corresponding author Misty Paig-Tran and Raj Divi of Cal State Fullerton.

Manta rays, close relatives of sharks that can measure more than 20 feet across, eat by bringing plankton-rich water into their mouths as they swim. They filter and ingest the plankton and then flush the remaining water out their gill slits.

[Fungi]

And of course this incredible design came about by chance.....