White-dotted skate
| White-dotted skate | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Order: | Rajiformes |
| Family: | Rajidae |
| Genus: | Bathyraja |
| Species: | B. albomaculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Bathyraja albomaculata (Norman, 1937) | |
The White-dotted skate (Bathyraja albomaculata) is a species of skate in the family Rajidae. It lives in the Southwest Atlantic off the coast of Uruguay, Argentina and the Falkland Islands and uncommonly off Chile (Guamblin Island) in the Southeast Pacific, at depths ranging from 55 to 861 metres. Males reach maturity at the age of about 11 years and females about 10 years. At maturity the total length of males is about 62.8 cm and females 65.3 cm. The oldest reported specimen was 17 years old. The maximum length has been estimated to be almost one metre. It is oviparous. Egg capsules are oblong having horned corners, the horns at the back end appear first and are longer, and thinner than the front ones. Capsules are barrel-shaped, quite smooth, yellow-brown when freshly laid, but they get darker. Egg laying has been observed year-round, but most frequently in autumn and winter.[1]:48 The animal eats mainly benthopelagic gammarids and polychaetes and also isopods. Juvenile white-dotted skates eat mostly gammarid amphipods, while adults eat mostly polychaetes.[1]:337
References
- 1 2 Carrier, Jeffrey C.; Musick, John A.; Heithaus, Michael R., eds. (2010). Sharks and Their Relatives II Biodiversity, Adaptive Physiology, and Conservation (2nd ed.). Hoboken: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-8048-3. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- McCormack, C., Lamilla, J., San MartÃn, M.J. & Stehmann, M.F.W. (2007). Bathyraja albomaculata. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
- "Reproductive biology and abundance of the white-dotted skate, Bathyraja albomaculata, in the Southwest Atlantic". Retrieved 27 March 2009.