FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 67 



to all skates of this genus. The anterior angle of the disk is sharper than in other 

 skates, being more acute than a right angle. The snout itself is long but blunt 

 tipped, the outer corners of the pectorals are angular, and the disk as a whole is 

 diamond or lozenge shaped. The two dorsal fins are separated by a short space, 

 with one or more spines, and the tip of the tail extends farther beyond the second 

 dorsal than in most skates. 



Size. — The barn-door is our largest skate, growing to a length of 6 feet or even 

 more. One of 58 inches length was 42 inches wide with a tail 27 inches long. 53 



Color. — The barn-door, like so many sea fish, varies in color. As a rule the 

 upper surface is brown, usually of a distinctly reddish hue, variously marked with 

 small scattered darker spots or blotches of varying size, often with pale marblings or 

 waterings. The lower surface is not as uniformly pale as in most skates, its gray 

 or white ground being shaded with darker toward the snout and speckled with black 

 over the abdomen. 



General range. — Atlantic coast of North America from the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 and the outer coast of Nova Scotia, where it is common, to Florida. In European 

 seas it is replaced by a very close ally, the "common skate," Raja batis. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This is a common fish off the New England 

 coast and in all parts of the Gulf. Any very large skate taken or reported there 

 is almost certain to be a "barn-door." Following the coast around from east to 

 west we find it reported as plentiful off the Nova Scotian shore; it is known from 

 St. Mary Bay; is found very generally though not abundantly in the Bay of Fundy 

 and up in Passamaquoddy Bay; is reported from Eastport, Casco Bay, and generally 

 along the coast of Maine; is known from various localities in Massachusetts Bay, 

 where we have seen many caught; and is taken in abundance by the trawlers on 

 Georges Bank. 54 In short, it is to be expected anywhere in the Gulf. Like most 

 other skates, it is often taken in shoal water in summer; seldom or never in winter. 

 Huntsman tells us that it comes up into Passamaquoddy Bay from May to Novem- 

 ber. We took one nearly 5 feet long at Cohasset in Massachusetts Bay in 

 only a couple of fathoms of water in midsummer. Indeed, it is often stranded 

 on the beaches. This inshore migration, however, does not involve the entire 

 stock — witness its presence in 20 to 60 fathoms on Georges Bank and off Cape Cod 

 throughout the year and the fact that it is reported by fishermen and has been 

 trawled by vessels of the bureau below 100 fathoms in summer. In the warmer 

 waters off the south coast of New England it comes inshore in spring and autumn, 

 descending to deeper water in summer. 



Habits and food. — Barn-door skates, like other skates, are bottom swimmers, 

 preferring smooth to rocky ground, but the fact that the lower surface is more or 

 less pigmented instead of white suggests that it hugs the bottom less closely than do 

 other skates. Garman, the foremost authority on this group, has pointed out that 

 the spines on the snout of this skate are usually worn smooth, as though used to 

 dig in the mud or sand — very likely it thus obtains the bivalves that form part of 

 its diet. It also feeds on worms, various crustaceans, particularly large rock crabs 



» Described by Qarman (1913, p. 342). 



