Southern round skate

9/4/2017

Public Domain Freshwater and Marine Image Bank, University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections

The Southern round skate (Irolita waitii) is the other member of the endemic Australian genus Irolita opposite the Western round skate (Irolita westraliensis). #Finfact: The Southern round skate was almost described a century ago!

Found on the continental shelf of Australia from Western Australia to south Australia, they are a small, round skate with a long, thorned tail. They can get up to 52 cm in length, with males maturing at 46 cm. This makes them a little bit bigger than the Western round skate.

The Southern round skate is a pale yellow colour, with blue spots interspersed with brown spots on its dorsal side. Blue markings near their eyes and back form ocelli. They are ventrally grey-to-black in colour, with their claspers being pale and brown spottings. Like the Western round skate, little else is known about these animals. The IUCN has currently assessed them as Least Concern (LC).

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glossary

Claspers: Sexual reproduction organs found on male elasmobranchs and chimaeras.
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.
Dorsal fin: Fin located on the back.
Dorsal side: The top of an animal.
Endemic: Native to a specific region or environment and not occurring naturally anywhere else.
Generas: Plural form of genus.
Genus: A group of organisms ranking above a species and below a family.
IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Ocelli: (singular Ocellus) round spot surrounded by a light region.