Leucoraja erinaceus

Family	Scientific Name	Author	Year	Common Name
Rajidae	Leucoraja erinaceus	(Mitchill)	1825	Little Skate

All Leucoraja Species:

Snout moderately long to short, anterior disc margins somewhat convex, slightly concave or undulated. Disc subcircular, with outer corners broadly rounded; snout short and bluntly angled. Tail length equal to, but usually somewhat longer than body. A theoretical line from snout tip to pectoral wing tip touching or cutting front margin of disc. Internasal width usually more than 70% of the distance from one nostril to snout tip.

Thorns always present on disc, at least on head. Upper side of disc and tail totally or partly covered with coarse, less densely set dermal denticles; underside of tail usually smooth. Median row thorns on tail may show somewhat reduced size rearward, but are always set continuously to origin of first dorsal fin.

Except in small juveniles, thorns on orbital rims set as continuous half-rings, and many thorns over nape and shoulder regions forming a triangle; median thorn row on trunk and tail either reduced or totally disappearing with growth, when parallel rows of large thorns become dominant. Median row thorns on back of trunk and along tail becoming gradually reduced with growth to completely disappear in large adults, when simultaneously parallel row thorns grow larger and remain persistent.

Leucoraja erinaceus

Unique Characters: Upper side patterned variably clouded dark and light and scattered with small dark spots, usually without pseudo-eyespot elements. Color above greyish to dark brown, or clouded with light and dark brown; patterned with small dark spots. A small species to about 55 cm total length. Tooth rows in upper jaw 30-66, in small juveniles (< 35 cm TL) mostly less than 54 rows, in mature specimens never more than 66 rows.

Similar Species:

Leucorja garmani, Rosette Skate

Rosette Skate, Leucorja garmani. Constantly dorsal color pattern elements present either in form of 4-6 pairs of circular creamy spots, each encircled dusky, or with large rosette-like blotches of dark spots around a central spot; in both cases such elements are arranged symmetrically on pectoral wings and on posterior pelvic–fin lobes.

Leucoraja ocellata, Winter Skate

Winter Skate, Leucoraja ocellata. Upper side patterned variably clouded dark and light and scattered with small dark spots. A rather large species to about 110 cm total length. Color above light brown, usually with pattern of blackish spots in varying numbers; outer and posterior part of wings often with 1-4 larger, dark eyespot-like blotches edged light. Tooth rows in upper jaw 44-63 in juveniles less than 53 cm total length, and 90-110 rows when mature

Reference:

(FAO 2013) Ebert, D.A. and M.F.W. Stehmann. 2013. Sharks, batoids, and chimaeras of the North Atlantic. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 7. Rome, FAO. 523 pp.

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