Selachia?is Extraordinary 



261 



Texas skate {Raja texana). Male, left. 



Courtesy, The Sears Foundation for Marine Research from 

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



It ranges through the continental waters of the western North At- 

 lantic from northern North Carolina to northern Nova Scotia, the south- 

 ern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Newfoundland Banks. But 

 its appearances are apparently based on its preference for relatively cool 

 water— and sandy or gravelly bottoms. It tends to disappear from shal- 

 low water along southern New England in the early summer, and then 

 reappears there and in New York waters in early autumn. This habit 

 gives it another common name: Winter skate. In fact, more are reported 

 caught in Aiassachusetts Bay during the winter than in the summer. 



These skates grow to about 32 inches in length and 9 pounds in 

 weight. Their greenish-brown or brownish-olive egg cases are about 2 

 or 3 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide, excluding horns. 



