Bathyraja abyssicola

Description

Size: Males to 135 cm TL, females to 157 cm TL.

Reproduction: Oviparous.

General: Large, uniformly light to medium gray-brown. Long snout, with tip acutely rounded and extending far beyond indented pectoral fins. One to five (usually two) nuchal thorns, and a continuous row of tail thorns. Posterior pelvic fins are elongate, notched and rounded. Tail moderately long and narrow; dorsal fins separated by a large interdorsal thorn. Anterior pelvic fins (walking legs) appear white-tipped in darker animals. In mature males, the claspers are long, narrow and white-tipped (visible in darker animals).

Geographic Information

Published depth range: 362 - 2906 m

Habitat description: Benthic, mud and hard substrate areas.

Ocean range (global): Bering Sea to northern Baja.

Additional Information

Consulting taxonomist: David Ebert, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories.

Verified MBARI depth distribution: 516 - 2913 m (May 2017).

References

Encyclopedia of Life

Tree of Life

World Register of Marine Species

National Center for Biotechnology Information

Ebert, D. (2003). Sharks, rays, and chimeras of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 284 pp.

Zorzi, G.D. and M.E. Anderson (1988). Records of the deep-sea skates, Raja (Amblyraja) badia Garman, 1899 and Bathyraja abyssicola (Gilbert, 1986) in the eastern North Pacific, with a new key to California skates. California Fish and Game 74: 87–105.

Kuhnz, L.A., J.J. Bizzarro, and D.A. Ebert (2019). In situ observations of deep-living skates in the eastern North Pacific. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 103104. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2019.103104.