Bigelow's ray

Bigelow's ray (Rajella bigelowi), also called the chocolate skate or Bigelow's skate,[3] is a species of skate in the family Rajidae.[4][5][6] It is named in honour of the oceanographer Henry Bryant Bigelow.[7]

Bigelow's ray
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Superorder: Batoidea
Order: Rajiformes
Family: Rajidae
Genus: Rajella
Species:
R. bigelowi
Binomial name
Rajella bigelowi
(Stehmann, 1978)
Synonyms[2]
  • Raja bigelowi (Stehmann, 1978)

Distribution

Bigelow's ray lives on continental slopes and deepwater rises around the edges of the Atlantic Ocean. It has been recorded at 367–4,156 m (1,204–13,635 ft), mostly below 1,500 m (4,900 ft).[8][9]

Description

Like all rays, Bigelow's ray has a flattened body with broad, wing-like pectoral fins. The body is sub-rhomboid. It is dark on the dorsal surface, with the outer edges of the disc and pelvic fins shading to a slightly darker colour.[4]

Its maximum length is 55 cm (1.80 ft).[10]

Behaviour

Bigelow's ray feeds on small benthic crustaceans.[11]

Life cycle

Bigelow's ray is oviparous. The eggs are oblong capsules with stiff pointed horns at the corners; they are deposited in sandy or muddy flats.[12]

It is parasitised by Ditrachybothridium macrocephalum (tapeworms of the order Diphyllidea).[10]

See also
  • Fish of the Atlantic Ocean

References
  1. Orlov, A. (December 1, 2008). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Rajella bigelowi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – via www.iucnredlist.org.
  2. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Rajella bigelowi (Stehmann, 1978)". www.marinespecies.org.
  3. Hamlett, William C. (May 21, 1999). Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. JHU Press. ISBN 9780801860485 – via Google Books.
  4. Government of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (December 19, 2016). "Chocolate or Bigelow's Skate (Rajella bigelowi)". www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
  5. Priede, Imants G. (August 10, 2017). Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316033456 – via Google Books.
  6. Coad, Brian W.; Reist, James D. (January 1, 2018). Marine Fishes of Arctic Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781442647107 – via Google Books.
  7. Watkins, Michael; Beolens, Bo (January 30, 2015). Sharks: An Eponym Dictionary. Pelagic Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781784270377 – via Google Books.
  8. Carrier, Jeffrey C.; Musick, John A.; Heithaus, Michael R. (March 9, 2010). Sharks and Their Relatives II: Biodiversity, Adaptive Physiology, and Conservation. CRC Press. ISBN 9781420080483 – via Google Books.
  9. "Shorefishes - The Fishes - Species". biogeodb.stri.si.edu.
  10. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Rajella bigelowi (Stehmann, 1978)". www.marinespecies.org.
  11. Last, Peter; Naylor, Gavin; Séret, Bernard; White, William; Stehmann, Matthias; Carvalho, Marcelo de (December 1, 2016). Rays of the World. Csiro Publishing. ISBN 9780643109155 – via Google Books.
  12. "Rajella bigelowi, Bigelow's ray". www.fishbase.se.
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