260 Shark and Company 



Barndoor Skate 



{Raja laevis Mitchell, 1817) 



(Also Known as Sharp-Nosed Skate) 



The Barndoor skate, which reaches 5 and possibly 6 feet in length, 

 is one of the few skates known to attack fish. In fact, a relative, the 

 Spiny dogfish (Sqiialus acanthias), is included in its varied diet. It also 

 eats herring and cod, and will take just about any kind of bait. 



The Barndoor roams the Atlantic Shelf of the North Atlantic, from 

 the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to North Carolina. Its yellowish or 

 greenish-brown &^g case is about 5 inches long and about 2^2 inches wide. 



It is a close relative of the Common skate {Raja batis Linnaeus, 1758) 

 of the eastern Atlantic. The largest Common skate recorded in Great 

 Britain was 7 feet across. 



Two Pacific Coast skates are also similar to the Barndoor. The Big 

 skate {Raja binoculata Girard, 1854) grows to about 8 feet in length and 

 is found from northwestern Alaska to southern California. Its egg cases, 

 sometimes a foot long, are unusual, for they contain up to seven eggs 

 each. The Long-Nose skate {Raja rhina Jordan and Gilbert, 1880), found 

 from southeastern Alaska to southern California, grows to about 5 feet. 

 Its t^^ cases are 4 or 5 inches long and generally hold one t^^. 



Eyed Skate 



{Raja ocellata Mitchell, 1815) 



(Also Known as Big Skate, Winter Skate) 



This skate gets both its common name (Eyed) and its scientific name 



{ocellata) from the eye-like spots scattered about the upper surface of 



its body. 



The egg-case of the Eyed skate ( Raja ocellata ) . Embryo shown in egg-case. 



Courtesy, The Sears Foundation for Marine Research from 

 Fishes of the Western North Atlantic by Henry B. Bigelow and William C. Schroeder, 1953 



