Engineers design a simple water filter inspired by mobula ray

Filter feeders can be found across various animal species, from tiny crustaceans and specific types of coral to large creatures like basking sharks and baleen whales. Recently, engineers at MIT have studied one such filter feeder, the mobula ray, which has developed a unique mechanism for sifting food that may have implications for improving industrial water filters. Mobula rays, which belong to a group that includes two species of manta rays and seven devil rays, feed by swimming with their mouths open in areas abundant with plankton, filtering these particles into their gullets while water flows through their mouths and out through their gills.