Psammobatis parvacauda

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.