FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



65 



must be exposed to temperatures as high, perhaps, 

 as 68° to 70° at the warmest time of the year. 



Off the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia this skate 

 deposits its eggs from summer into autumn, and 

 probably through the same season in the Gulf of 

 Maine for Scattergood 66 reports females with egg 

 capsules in Maine waters in September. And it 

 continues to do so into December and January off 

 southern New England. Its egg cases are larger 

 than those of the little skate, 2^ to 2% inches by 

 about 1% inches, not counting the horns. The 

 length of the period of incubation is not known. 



General range. — Atlantic Coast of North Amer- 

 ica from northern North Carolina to the southern 

 side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and to the 

 southern part of the Newfoundland Banks. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This, the 

 second in size of our skates, occurs commonly all 

 around the Gulf of Maine from Nova Scotia to 

 Cape Cod. There are many locality records for 

 it for the Bay of Fundy as well as from the coasts 

 of Maine and Massachusetts, but so closely does 

 a half or two-thirds grown big skate resemble an 

 adult little skate (p. 68) that it is often impossible 

 to tell to which species published reports refer. 

 It also makes up so considerable a proportion of 

 the skate population on Georges Bank that about 

 14 percent of the catch of skates made on Georges 

 Bank by one otter trawler in September 1929, and 

 about 18 percent (1,116) of the skates taken in 42 

 trawl hauls by the Eugene H, late June 1951, fish- 

 ing from Nantucket Lightship to the southwestern 

 part of Georges Bank, were this species. But it 

 has never been reported from the deeper troughs 

 of the Gulf, nor have we taken it there. 



The name "winter skate" seems appropriate 

 enough for it along the southern coast of New 

 England, for it is only during the cold season that 

 big skates come close inshore near Woods Hole. 

 And they are said to be taken in larger numbers in 

 winter than in summer in the Massachusetts Bay 

 region (we cannot verify this). However, this is 

 a misnomer in the cooler waters of the northern 

 part of the Gulf of Maine, for it is common inshore 

 in Passamaquoddy Bay from May to November, 

 and this probably applies to the whole coastline 

 east of Cape Elizabeth to judge from temperature. 



Big skates are taken on hook and line, in weirs, 

 and in otter trawls, but they are of no commercial 

 value, except as they form a part of the general 



• Copela 1951, No. 2, p. 169. 

 210941 — 53 6 



landings of skates. And they are only a nuisance 

 to anglers. 



Brier skate Raja eglanteria Bosc 1802 



Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953, p. 165. 

 Garman, 1913, pi. 23. 



Description. — In the brier skate, as in the thorny 

 skate, the midline of the back and tail is armed 

 with a continuous row of stout thorns from the 

 shoulders to the first dorsal fin near the tip of the 

 tail, usually with 1 or 2 in the gap between the 2 

 dorsal fins. But the thorns of this row are not 

 much larger than those along the sides of the tail 

 (they are in the thorny skate), and there are at 

 least 16 thorns in the midrow along the tail (not 

 more than 9 to 10 in the thorny skate). There also 

 are groups of large thorns opposite and behind the 

 eyes, with 1 to 5 on each shoulder and 1 to 4 rows 

 along either side of the tail. Elsewhere the upper 

 surface of the disc bears only small sharp prickles 

 (hence its name), most numerous on the forward 

 parts of the pectorals, over head and snout, and 

 along the middle of the back and tail among the 

 larger thorns. Thus it is a much smoother species 

 than the thorny skate, and its snout is more acute, 

 its outline being about a right angle with the mar- 

 gins bulging less opposite the eyes than in any of 

 the blunter-nosed skates. The outer corners of 

 the pectorals are distinctly angular, and the 

 dorsal fins are separated by a short gap. 



Color.— Brownish to grayish above; the pec- 

 torals variously marked with darker spots and 

 blotches and with more elongate bars; this last is 

 a characteristic feature; there is a translucent 

 space on each side of the snout; it is white below. 

 It is most readily recognized by its color pattern, 

 with short dark bars as well as spots, which is 

 not shared by any other Gulf of Maine skate. 



Size. — The brier skate ordinarily grows to a 

 length of about 2% feet. The largest on record 

 was about 37 inches long. 



General range.— OS the eastern coast of the 

 United States from Massachusetts Bay to both 

 coasts of Florida. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This is a 

 southern species, uncommon even as far north as 

 Woods Hole and decidedly rare in the Gulf of 

 Maine. It has been recorded once from Glouces- 

 ter, its most northerly outpost, and also from 



