False peacock skate

1/2/2017

Pavoraja pseudonitida. Source: CSIRO National Fish Collection. License: CC BY Attribution

The Fins United Initiative would like to welcome everyone back, and hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season. Feeling refreshed for 2017? So are we! So we are starting off the year with a beautiful flatshark, the false peacock skate (Pavoraja pseudonitida), a member of the Arhynchobatidae family.

These small skates are yellow-brown in colour, with white spots scattered on the dorsal side of their body. The disc is subcircular in shape for females and juveniles, while it has a more heart-shape for mature males. They can reach up to 37 cm, and males mature at 32-34 cm; female maturity size is unknown. False peacock skate tails are covered in large, widely-spaced thorns. Talk about a big “Ouch” if you ever get whacked by that. Don’t worry though, the chances of you swimming into these #flatsharks are slim.

Found mostly on the upper continental shelf off of Queensland, Australia, they can reach depths of up to 210-510 meters. In fact, it may be the most abundant skate on the upper continental slope off tropical eastern Australia. The diets of these skates are unknown, as is their reproduction methods. IUCN has listed this skate as Least Concern (LC).

who wants to see these skates?

glossary

Continental shelf: Extends from a continent underwater, resulting in a shallow-water area.
Continental slope: The steep slope from a continental shelf to the ocean floor; usually around 20 km (12.4 miles) wide and made up of mud and silt substrate. It is an ideal area for deep sea fishing.
Disc length (DL): A standard measurement of stingray; disc is slightly longer than it is wide.
Dorsal side: The top of an animal.
IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.