60 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Color of a fresh male specimen, 49 inches long, brownish above, with many scattered small dark 
spots of unequal size, the largest equal to the size of the eye; a pair of large, irregular, prominent, 
ocellated spots on the disk opposite the outer angles of pectorals; ventral surface nearly plain. The 
ocellated spots on the disk in the specimen described are sometimes wanting, and the lower surface 
is frequently marked, particularly iD large individuals, with dusky or gray. The color of a female 
46 inches long, taken with the above male, differed in having fewer spots and in the smaller size 
of the ocellated spots. 
This species is readily recognized by the long, acute snout, by the smoothness of the skin on 
the upper surface, the prickles being much fewer than in related species, and, usually, by its large 
size. 
The specimens of this species were too large to preserve conveniently. The above description 
is based upon several large specimens examined in the field and also upon published accounts. 
The barn-door skate, like most other skates, feeds mainly on the bottom. Its food (Bigelow 
and Welsh, 1925, p. 67) consists of mollusks, crustaceans, fish and worms. It is regarded as more 
destructive of fish than any of the other skates. 
The breeding habits of the barn-door skate are unknown. 
The barn-door skate is frequently taken in early spring with pound nets in the southern part 
of Chesapeake Bay. The wings or “saddles,” as they are called by the fishermen, are sometimes 
removed from the fish and shipped to New York, where there is a fair demand for them. In parts 
of Europe skate saddles are considered a delicacy, and it is the foreign population of New York 
and vicinity that furnishes most of the demand for them. 
The barn-door skate reaches a length of 6 feet, and examples 4 to 5 feet long are not at all rare. 
The three largest seen by us in the Chesapeake were 46 to 49 inches in length. 
Habitat . — Nova Scotia to Florida. 
Chesapeake localities.— (a) Previous records: “Not uncommon in the ocean off Worcester 
County, but said to be scarce in Chesapeake Bay.” (Uhler and Lugger, 1876, pp. 160 and 189.) 
( b ) Specimens in present collection: None. A number of individuals, all large, were observed 
during the present investigation. They were taken in the spring with pound nets located at Ocean 
View and in Lynnhaven Roads, Va. 
16. Raja erinacea Mitchill. Common skate; Little skate; Summer skate. 
Raja crinaeeus Mitchill, Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, IX, 1825, p. 290; Now York. 
Raja erinacea Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900 p. 68; PI. IX, fig. 29; Garrnan, 1913, p. 337, pi. 20; pi. 55, fig. 5; pi. 68, fig. 1. 
“Anterior margins of disk waved, convex opposite the eyes, concave opposite spiracles, outer 
and hinder angles and margins rounded. Snout short, longer than that of R. diaphanes, about one 
and one-half times the interspiracular width. Mouth strongly waved; teeth in about 50 rows. 
Back rough with strong, hooked spines over almost the entire surface on females, especially rough near 
and on head, on the snout, about the shoulders, on the hinder portions of the pectorals, and on the 
tail. A triangular patch of strong spines appears in front of the shoulder girdle; others are seen 
on each shoulder and in one to several rows at each side of the median line of the back. The ventral 
line is quite or nearly without tubercles; the tail has two to four rows on each side. Males have 
not so many tubercles as the females; their spines are more scattered, and smooth spaces exist on 
the middle of the back, over the gills, and above the abdomen; they have the band of erectile tenacula 
near the outer angle of the pectoral. * * * 
“Back light grayish brown to very dark, clouded to uniform, usually spotted with small spots 
of darker, margins sometimes light. Color darker northward.” (Garrnan, 1913.) 
This species was not seen during the present investigation and it is not recorded from Chesa- 
peake Bay. The species is included here on the authority of certain field notes by Dr. W. C. 
Kendall, made during an investigation in 1894, which he has kindly placed at our disposal. In 
these notes we find it stated that R. erinacea was taken in pound nets near Hampton, Va., on March 
13 and 24 (one specimen on each date), and again near Cape Charles, Va., on March 21. Of the 
latter he says: “A few R. erinacea were brought in from the pounds.” 
“Little skates are omnivorous. Hermit and other crabs, shrimps, worms, amphipods, ascidians 
(‘sea squirts’), bivalve mollusks, squid, small fishes, and even such tiny objects as copepods have 
been found in their stomachs.” (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925, p. 59.) 
