Fig 1. The study area subdivided into 5 sub-areas: (A) Pelagos Sanctuary; (B) Sardinian Sea; (C) Central Tyrrhenian Sea; (D) Southern Tyrrhenian Sea; and (E) Ionian Sea.

Red dots are the locations of giant devilray sightings. The areas for which abundance estimates were obtained (A, B and C) are highlighted in grey. Numbers correspond to the following locations cited in the text: 1 –Corsica; 2 –Sardinia; 3 –Gulf of Asinara; 4 –Latium; 5 –Campania; 6 –Tuscan Archipelago; 7 –Strait of Messina; 8 –Adriatic Sea.