Common skate

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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 batus
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 Critical Endangered globally in 2006 [4].

[edit] Description

The common skate can grow to 285 cm,[5] 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.[6] The top surface is generally colored olive-grey to brown, often with a pattern of spots, the underside is lighter blue-grey.[5]

[edit] 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. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  3. ^ Brander, K. (1981). "Disappearance of common skate Raja batis from Irish Sea". Nature 290: 48–49. doi:10.1038/290048a0. 
  4. ^ "Marine Species." ICUN Global Marine Programme. 2003. ICUN. 26 Nov. 2006 <http://www.iucn.org/themes/marine/marine_species.htm>.
  5. ^ a b "Dipturus batis". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  6. ^ ARKive. Common skate - Dipturus batis. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.


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