FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



63 



shore fishing grounds, for its European relative is a 

 well-known enemy of the cod, and there is no rea- 

 son to suppose that the barn-door skate is less 

 voracious. It bites readily on almost any bait, 

 and is often caught on hand and long lines as well 

 as in otter trawls, and in weirs along shore. 



Little is known of the breeding habits. The 

 yellowish or greenish brown egg cases are about 

 4% to 5% inches (124-132 mm.) long by 2% to 2% 

 (68-72 mm.) inches broad, not counting the horns, 

 and thus much larger than those of any other 

 Gulf of Maine skate. Females containing fully 

 formed egg capsules have been taken in December 

 and January in Nova Scotia waters, evidence that 

 the eggs are laid in winter. However, it seems 

 that the young are not hatched until late spring or 

 early summer, for we have seen one, taken on 

 Nantucket Shoals in July, so small (about 7% in. 

 long) that it could not have been set free long be- 

 fore its capture. 



General range. — Atlantic Coast of North America 

 from the Banks of Newfoundland, Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence and outer coast of Nova Scotia and the 

 Nova Scotia Banks to North Carolina. 64 It is 

 replaced in European seas by a very close ally, the 

 common skate, Raja bails. 



Occurrence in the Gulj oj Maine. — This is a com- 

 mon fish in all parts of our Gulf, and 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 outer Nova Scotia shore; it is known from 

 St. Mary Bay; is found very generally though not 

 abundantly in the Bay of Fundy and in Passama- 

 quoddy 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 its 

 abundance on Georges Bank and on Nantucket 

 shoals is illustrated by an average catch of about 

 21 per haul (about 14 percent of all the skates 

 caught) , in 42 trawl hauls by the Eugene H, fishing 

 from Nantucket Lightship out into the south 

 central part of Georges Bank in late June 1951. 

 In short, it is to be expected anywhere within the 

 limits of the Gulf. Like most other skates, it is 

 often taken in shoal water in our Gulf in summer; 

 seldom or never in winter. Huntsman tells us 

 that it comes to Passamaquoddy Bay from May 

 to November. We once caught one nearly 5 feet 



•* Doubtfully reported from Florida. 



long at Cohasset in Massachusetts Bay in less than 

 a fathom of water in midsummer; indeed, it is 

 often stranded on the beach. This inshore migra- 

 tion, 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 former Bureau of 

 Fisheries, also by the Atlantis, as deep as 100 

 fathoms in summer. In the warmer waters off 

 the southern coast of New England it comes in- 

 shore in spring and autumn, descending to some- 

 what deeper water for the summer. 



Commercial value. — The barn-door skate is of 

 no commercial value except as entering into the 

 small landings of skates mentioned on page 61. 



Big skate Raja ocellata Mitchill 1815 



Spotted skate; Winter skate; Eyed skate 



Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953, p. 240. 



Garman, 1913, p. 339, pi. 29, fig. 2, as Rata diaphanes. 



Description. — This skate looks very much like 

 the little skate, but it is larger and has more 

 numerous teeth. The front angle of the disc is 

 much blunter than a right angle, bulging opposite 

 the eyes, and the tip of the snout is rounded. 

 The teeth are in from 72 to 110 series in each 

 jaw instead of 66 series, or fewer as in erinacea, 

 and they are sharper in males than in females. 

 The backs of both sexes are rough with sharp 

 spines on the head, around the eyes, along the 

 anterior margins of the pectorals, over the shoul- 

 ders, and on the sides of the tail. The midline 

 of the back behind the shoulders is almost always 

 free of spines in adults. But we have one speci- 

 men, a female 18 inches long taken near Jeffreys 

 Ledge, November 1, 1927, which bears a row of 

 large spines along the midline of back and tail 

 from the shoulder girdle to the first dorsal fin. 

 Males, like those of other skates, have rows of 

 retractile hooks on the outer parts of the pectorals. 

 The two dorsal fins are close together; the outer 

 corners of the pectorals are bluntly angular; the 

 claspers of adult males reach about halfway back 

 along the tail, which occupies about half the 

 total length of the fish. 



Color. — Light brown above with round dark 

 brown spots. As a rule there is a large white 

 eye spot with black center near the rear corner 

 of the pectoral fin, and often two smaller ones 



