Mottled skate
| Mottled skate | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Rajiformes |
| Family: | Rajidae |
| Genus: | Beringraja |
| Species: | B. pulchra |
| Binomial name | |
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Beringraja pulchra (F. H. Liu, 1932) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Raja pulchra F. H. Liu, 1932 |
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Raja pulchra F. H. Liu, 1932
The mottled skate (Beringraja pulchra, syn. Raja pulchra) is a species of skate, family Rajidae. An inhabitant of shallow coastal waters, it is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean off Korea, Japan, and China. This species grows to 1.12 m (3.7 ft) long and has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc with a long snout. It is characterized by a covering of prickles above and below its snout but not elsewhere on its body, and a dark ring in the middle of each "wing" (though this may be indistinct in adults).
The diet of the mottled skate consists of shrimps, cephalopods, bony fishes, and crabs. It is oviparous, with females producing egg capsules almost year-round. With the similar big skate (B. binoculata), it is one of only two skate species that regularly places multiple embryos (up to five) into a single egg case. The mottled skate is valued for food in South Korea and Japan. It is subject to heavy fishing, both intentional and otherwise, throughout its range, and its population has declined substantially since the 1980s. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Vulnerable.
The mottled skate was scientifically described by ichthyologist Liu Fah-Hsuen in a 1932 issue of The Science Reports of National Tsing Hua University. The type specimen has since been lost. Although initially placed in the genus Raja, systematic studies revealed that it belonged elsewhere. In 2012, it was moved to the new genus Beringraja together with the big skate (B. binoculata).
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