474 
Fishery Bulletin 106(4) 
Figure 2 
(A) An intact longnose skate ( Raja rhina) egg, (B) an aggregation of eggs (see arrows), many of which are 
covered in fine sediment. 
Table 3 
Numbers of intact and empty longnose skate (Raja rhina) 
eggs on abiotic (rocks and fishing line) and biotic sub- 
strata, observed from the Delta submersible, eastern 
Santa Barbara Channel, October 2006. 
Substrata 
Number of 
eggs intact 
Number of 
eggs empty 
Abiotic 
Rocks 
197 
1500 
Fishing line 
1 
0 
Total abiotic 
198 
1500 
Biotic 
Sponges 
35 
1 
Gorgonians 
3 
1 
Corals 
1 
0 
Sea anemones 
1 
0 
Total biotic 
40 
2 
California waters (at least at depths <360 m), and 
like that observed by Hoff (2007) the nursery site 
that we observed was relatively small in area because 
visual transects conducted within 1 km over similar 
habitats yielded no eggs (Fig. 1). However, whereas 
previously described skate nursery grounds lay on soft 
sea floors, the study site was a rocky outcrop sitting 
on the edge of a submarine canyon. This reef appears 
to be a relatively high-energy area (little sediment 
was found on the substrata) with high densities of 
structure-forming invertebrates. Because so few visual 
surveys have been conducted on the Pacific Coast, we 
do not know if the nursery ground that we observed 
was atypical or if there are other such grounds in 
Pacific Coast waters. 
Longnose skates do not randomly lay their eggs over 
the sea floor. Among the various habitat types in the 
nursery area, rock ridges contained statistically more 
eggs and these eggs were often found in clumps. It 
would be expected that eggs laid on the highest relief 
would be most exposed to currents and arguably less 
