60 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



ably crabs loom largest in their diet, for more than 29 per cent of the skates opened 

 by Field (1907, p. 26) contained them; 15 per cent had bottom-dwelling shrimps 

 (Crago); 6 per cent had eaten squid. Launce, alewives, herring, cunners, silver- 

 sides, tomcod, silver hake, all have been found in the stomachs of these skates. 



Habits. — The spawning habits of the summer skate have not been followed in 

 the Gulf of Maine, but oS southern New England its eggs have been taken as early 

 as March and in abundance during July, August, and September, both [in fish 

 traps and in dredges in a few fathoms of water. In all probabihty its breeding 

 covers the same period north of Cape Cod — that is, eggs are laid in spring and earlj- 

 summer, hatching in late summer and autumn. The eggs measure about 2 by 2J^ 



Fig. 23.— Big skate (Raja diaphanis). After Garman 



inches, and the great majority of the empty skate eggs washed up on the beach 

 belong to this species. Huntsman's observations suggest that young hatched near 

 the head of the Bay of Fundy descend to deeper water the first winter, and this 

 probably applies to the Gulf of Maine as a whole. 



21. Big skate {Raja diapJinnes 'MitchiH) 



Spotted skate; Winter skate; Eted skate 



- Jordan and Evermann (Raja ocellata Mitchill), 1S96-1900, p. 68. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 339. 



Discriftion. — This skate is much like the little skate, but is larger, has more 

 numerous teeth, and is of a different color. The front angle of the disk is much 



