Bottlenose skate
| Bottlenose skate | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Order: | Rajiformes |
| Family: | Rajidae |
| Genus: |
Rostroraja Hulley, 1972 |
| Species: | R. alba |
| Binomial name | |
|
Rostroraja alba (Lacépède, 1803) |
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| Synonyms | |
|
Raja alba Lacepède, 1803 |
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Raja alba Lacepède, 1803
Raja bicolor Shaw, 1804
Raja bramante Sassi, 1846
Raja marginata Lacepède, 1803
Raja rostellata Risso, 1810
The bottlenose skate, spearnose skate, or white skate, Rostroraja alba, is a species of skate in the family Rajidae, and the sole member of its genus. It is a benthic fish native to the coastal eastern Atlantic Ocean. Due to overfishing, it has been depleted or extirpated in many parts of its former range in the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, and is now endangered.
The bottlenose skate is found along the coastlines of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the southern British Isles to South Africa, including the Mediterranean, and extending into the southwestern Indian Ocean to Mozambique. It is listed as occurring in the northwestern European seas, but no valid records exist for the northern areas of the northeast Atlantic. It is a benthic species of sandy and detrital bottoms, at depths of 40–400 m (exceptionally down to 500 m) from coastal regions to the upper continental slope. Du Buit (1974) reported that it is more prevalent in rocky habitats.
Most bottlenose skates are 60–150 cm long, with maximum recorded lengths of 230 cm for males and 202 cm for females. The flattened, angular pectoral fin fisc is about 1.4–1.5 times as broad as long. The snout is broad-based, abruptly tapering to a protruding sharp point and covered with small, sharp thorns. There are 40–45 rows of teeth in the upper jaw. The juveniles have 1 thorn before and 0–1 thorns behind the eyes and three rows of large thorns on the tail, 10–16 on the midline and 7–17 on either side. The adults have about 6 thorns around the inner margin of the orbit and 16–30 mid-dorsal and 17–29 lateral thorns on the tail. The skin is rough in adults except for a smooth patch in the center of the disc; the underside is prickly except for smooth patches on the snout. The young are entirely smooth, except for on the snout. Large juveniles and adults are greyish or bluish with or without numerous small white spots above, white below with brown to black disc margins. Hatchlings are plain reddish-brown above, often with blue spots, and white below with broad dusky disc margins.
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