White-dotted skate

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White-dotted skate
Scientific classification
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B. albomaculata
Binomial name
Bathyraja albomaculata
(Norman, 1937)

The White-dotted skate (Bathyraja albomaculata) is a species of skate in the family Rajidae. It lives in the Southwest Atlantic off the coast of Uruguay, Argentina and the Falkland Islands and uncommonly off Chile in the Southeast Pacific, in depths ranging from 55 to 861 meters. Males reach maturity at the age of about 11 years and females about 10 years. At maturity the total length of males is about 62.8 centimeters and females 65.3 centimeters. The oldest reported specimen was 17 years old. The maximum length has been estimated to be almost one meter. It is oviparous. Egg capsules are oblong having horned corners, the horns at the back end appear first and are longer, and thinner than the front ones. Capsules are barrel-shaped, quite smooth, yellow-brown when freshly laid, but they get darker. The animal eats mainly benthopelagic gammarid and polychaetes and also isopods.

References

  • Template:IUCN2008
  • "Reproductive biology and abundance of the white-dotted skate, Bathyraja albomaculata, in the Southwest Atlantic". Retrieved 27 March 2009.