Common skate

Common skate
common skate
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Batoidea
Order: Rajiformes
Family: Rajidae
Genus: Dipturus
Species: D. batis
Binomial name
Dipturus batis
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The common skate or blue skate (Dipturus batis[1]) is the largest skate in the world.[2] Historically, it was one of the most abundant skates in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Despite its name, today it appears to be absent from much of this range.[3] Where previously abundant, fisheries directly targeted this skate, elsewhere it is caught incidentally as by-catch. Previously assessed as Endangered globally and Critically Endangered in shelf and enclosed seas in the 2000 IUCN Red List, it has been uplisted to Critically Endangered globally in 2006 [4]. In 2009, research showed that what was formerly listed as a single species, D. batis, should be instead classified as two separate species, D. flossada and the flapper skate, D. intermedia.[5][6]

Description

The common skate can grow to 285 cm[7] long and weigh 220 lb (100 kg)[8], making it the largest skate in the world. Overall shape features a pointed snout and rhombic shape, with a row of spines or thorns along the tail.[9] The top surface is generally colored olive-grey to brown, often with a pattern of spots, the underside is lighter blue-grey.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Sometimes listed as Raja batis which was the name given by Linnaeus, however this name is no longer considered valid.
  2. ^ Florida Museum of Natural History. "Ray and Skate: Basic Questions". http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/education/questions/RayBasics.html. Retrieved 2007-10-29. 
  3. ^ Brander, K. (1981). "Disappearance of common skate Raja batis from Irish Sea". Nature 290 (5801): 48–49. doi:10.1038/290048a0. 
  4. ^ "Marine Species." ICUN Global Marine Programme. 2003. ICUN. 26 November 2006 <http://www.iucn.org/themes/marine/marine_species.htm>.
  5. ^ Is 80-Year-Old Mistake Leading to First Species to Be Fished to Extinction?, ScienceDaily Nov 17, 2009
  6. ^ BBC News: Skate may be fished to extinction
  7. ^ a b Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Dipturus batis" in FishBase. October 2007 version.
  8. ^ Kindersley, Dorling (2001,2005). Animal. New York City: DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-7764-5. 
  9. ^ ARKive. "Common skate - Dipturus batis". http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/fish/Dipturus_batis/. Retrieved 2007-10-29. 


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