Common Name
Smalltail Sandskate
Year Described
McEachran, 1983
Identification
Disk weakly heart-shaped with broad, rounded pectoral fins and a weakly concave anterior margin of disk (more concave in males). Snout short and soft with convex lateral edges. Conical snout tip slightly projects and sometimes has a filamentous tip. Skin with sparse denticles in juveniles but becomes smooth with age with some denticles around the margins. Ventrum quite smooth. Multiple orbital thorns in a crescent shape around each orbit. Large patch of thorns not present on shoulder and restricted to three thorns. There are 4-5 nuchal thorns on midline. A strong line of median thorns runs from level of pelvic fins to dorsal fin. Tail rather slender and equal to disk length, with lateral rows of smaller thorns. Caudal fin weakly developed. Dorsal fins are paired far back on tail, very close together, and very small. Pelvic fin with two portions separated with a deep notch. Claspers large. Mouth narrow. Nasal flaps broad with fringes. Teeth are conical and sharp (37-38 in upper jaw).
Color
Dorsum uniformly brown with indistinct white blotches. Belly white.
Size
Maximum size to 36cm TL.
Habitat
Continental shelf from 120-130m. Benthic.
Range
Southwestern Atlantic: Argentina and the Falkland Islands.
References
Last, P.R., White, W.T., Carvalho, M.R. de, Séret, B., Stehmann, M.F.W & Naylor, G.J.P (Eds.). 2016. Rays of the World. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Other Notes
This species is poorly known and may be a juvenile of a more well collected species. The large eyes may be an artifact of age. More study is needed.