Common Name
Plain Pygmy Skate
Year Described
Bigelow & Schroeder, 1962
Identification
Disk heart shaped with a almost straight anterior margin of snout and pectoral fin (concave pectoral margin in males). Snout with short projecting lobe. Pectoral fins with round tips. Anterior pelvic fin lobe elongate; separated from posterior lobe by strong notch. Posterior lobe rectangular and about the same length as anterior. Tail is long and thin. Most of tail with lateral skin folds. There are two small dorsal fins placed far back on tail with fins close together (gap less than half dorsal base). Caudal fin poorly developed. Eyes and mouth large. Jaws with around 34 tooth rows. Male claspers long.
Body is covered with dermal denticles dorsally. Ventrum smooth. The rostrum has no thorns. There are 6-8 orbital thorns, 1 spiracular thorns, and around 4-5 nuchal thorns on the head. There is 1 scapular thorn. Abdomen and tail with a median row of small thorns. Lateral thorns present on tail.
Color
A very plainly colored species: gray-brown above with no markings and plain whitish below.
Size
A very small skate: maximum size to 36cm TL.
Habitat
Found on relatively deep continental slopes from 500-950m.
Range
Known from off Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
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.