Bathyraja maculata, the white-blotched skate, is a species of skate from the western North Pacific Ocean.[1] An adult is approximately 1 meter in length, and is found at depths of up to 1 kilometer.[2] Unlike any other known member of the genus Bathyraja, the white-blotched skate has white blotches on a grey to brown dorsal surface, while the ventral side is lighter in color with darker blotches. Dorsal side is rough with spines, while the ventral side is smooth.[3]
| Bathyraja maculata | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Rajiformes |
| Family: | Arhynchobatidae |
| Genus: | Bathyraja |
| Species: | B. maculata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Bathyraja maculata | |
Range
editThe white-blotched skate is well established to inhabit waters in the Northern Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk and Aleutian Islands. It was the most commonly caught skate in a NOAA bottom-trawl survey of the Aleutian Islands in 2006.[4] Initially thought to inhabit only the western margin of the Gulf of Alaska, trawl surveys have now found specimens along the eastern margin as well.[5]
References
edit- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Bathyraja maculata". FishBase. November 2007 version.
- ^ ZipcodeZoo.com. "Bathyraja maculata (White-Blotched Skate)". Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ Ishiyama, Reizo; Hajime Ishihara. "Five New Species of Skates in the Genus Bathyraja from the Western North Pacific, with Reference to Their Interspecific Relationships". Japanese Journal of Ichthyology. 24 (2): 71–90.
- ^ Rooper, C.N. (2008). Data Report: 2006 Aleutian Islands Bottom Trawl Survey. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-179.
- ^ Bizzarro, Joseph; Michael T. Vaughn (2008). "First records of the whiteblotched skate (Bathyraja maculata) in the Eastern Gulf of Alaska". Northwestern Naturalist. 89 (3): 193–197. doi:10.1898/NWN08-14.1.
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