ABOVE: The gill rakers within a manta ray’s (Manta birostris) mouth help in filtration.
MISTY PAIG-TRAN
Researchers looked to the filter-feeding framework of the giant oceanic manta ray (Manta birostris) to create a new type of water filtration system. When the creature opens its mouth, sea water carries in minuscule food particles that that manage to not get trapped in the gills. This prevents clogging, a problem faced by most modern filters used for industrial applications such as wastewater purification.
Using physical modeling and computational fluid dynamics, the group created a 3-D printed version of the filter-feeding apparatus. On testing this model, they found that water flow patterns between filters that resemble those within manta rays’ gills, called rakers, create small whirlpools that ricochet particulates off the filter. These findings were published September 26 in Science Advances.
R.V. Divi et al., “Manta rays feed using ricochet separation, a novel nonclogging filtration mechanism,” Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat9533, 2018.
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