abyssal skate

Photographer: M. Stehmann, ICHTHYS

The Abyssal skate (Bathyraja ishiharai) is a deepwater skate known only a few specimens from southwest Australia. And by "a few," I mean two collected on the Naturalist Plateau about 2,300 metres deep. The whole range? We don't know it, sorry. 

In fact we know very little. The mature male measured 123 cm total length (TL) and the small juvenile male measured 36 cm TL. Their maximum size is unknown. Reproduction is oviparous, like other skates. They are yellow in color, with a darker edge. #Finfact: Their tails have thorns along the middle.

With it being so deep, it could be bycatch of deepwater trawl fisheries. Very little information is currently available on these animals, so the IUCN has assessed these animals as Data Deficient (DD).

EVER HEARD OF THIS ANIMAL?

GLOSSARY

• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.
• Oviparity/oviparous: Where adult Chondrichthyans lay eggcases (also known as ‘mermaid’s purses) and the baby develops inside the egg before hatching.
• Pups: Baby sharks.​

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