McEACHRAN and MUSICK: DISTRIBUTION AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF SKATES 



SOUTHERN 



MID -ATLANTIC 

 BIGHT 



3 —I 



UJ 



o 



z 

 < 



Q 



Z 



OD 

 < 



X 



UJ 



o 



z 



2 — 



0- 



1^ 



NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC 

 BIGHT 



I 14 4 6 1 I 

 \ 



10 



4_ 

 6 



3 



■Si 



15 C 







6 7 4 



GEORGES BANK 



9 



22 



n3 2 I 3 2 



10 



15 C 







r 



10 



15 C 



u. o 



o z 



< 



X Q 



UJ z 



Q 3 



Z 03 



- < 











GULF OF MAINE 



I 



9 II 



3nii7n2 



T" 

 10 



15 



20 C 



NOVA SCOTIAN SHELF 



5 3 



I 3 II 2 3 







20 -C 



TEMPERATURE 



Figure 12. — Index of abundance (geometric mean) of Raja ocellata captured in each subarea during winter 1969 within 

 temperature intervals of 1°C. See Figure 3 for explanation of fractions and whole numbers. 



Kaja radiata 



Raja radiata was the most abundant skate en- 

 countered in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off north- 

 eastern and southeastern Nova Scotia, and in the 

 Gulf of Maine. It was widespread along the 

 eastern and northwestern slopes of Georges Bank 

 (Figure 19). Raja radiata occurred between 27 

 and 439 m but was most abundant between 

 111 and 366 m. Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) 



listed a depth range of 18 to 896 m for this 

 species in the western Atlantic. Temperatures 

 at which it was captured ranged from -1.3° to 

 14°C. The previously recorded temperature range 

 was -1.4°C (Backus, 1957) to 10°C (Bigelow and 

 Schroeder 1953). 



Raja radiata is a boreal to arctic species whose 

 center of abundance in the western Atlantic 

 extends northward from the Gulf of Maine 

 probably as far as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It 



125 



