CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. Y 



3. THE SKATES 



(Family Kajaida). 



The Long-nosed Skate (Raja rhina). 



This skate may be known by the long projecting snout, making the 

 front outline of the disk deeply concave. (Compare the straight line 

 drawn from the tip of the snout to the outer pectoral angle, in its 

 relation to the outline of the front of the disk, in the figure of this 

 species with that of the next.) When the front edge of the ventral fin 

 is held at a right angle with the tail its outer edge is concave as in fig. 7. 

 The rostral ridges are grown together along their front half. Very 

 small spines are scattered over the outer edges of the body and back 

 behind the shoulders, but leaving large areas of smooth skin. Coarser 



Fig. 6. The long-nosed skate Raja rhina. Adult female. 



ones at front edge of body, snout, and between eyes. Enlarged spines 

 around inner edge of eyes, along middle of back (usually absent in large 

 specimens) and on back of tail. The male has a row of long, sharp 

 spines near the outer angle of the bodj^ The color is dark sienna-brown 

 with irregular dark blotches sometimes present. There is a spot at the 

 base of the pectoral in the form of an irregular ring, always present in 

 the young and sometimes in the adult, but usually present as an indis- 

 tinct spot. This is never wider than the space between the eyes. 



This skate is found from the Gulf of California to Alaska, and on 

 the California coast is common nearly everywhere. It reaches a length 

 of 3^ feet. The egg cases of this skate are 3 or 4 inches long, and 

 usually contain only a single egg. 



The Common California Skate (Raja inornata). 



The snout in this skate is not so projecting as in the long-nosed skate. 

 The region at each side of the snout is concave, as is the region toward 

 the outer angle of the pectoral, while the region midwa.y between these 



