Blue skate

Blue skate
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Rajiformes
Family: Rajidae
Genus: Dipturus
Species:
D. batis
Binomial name
Dipturus batis
Synonyms[2]
  • Raja batis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Raja macrorynchus Rafinesque, 1810
  • Propterygia hyposticta Otto, 1821
  • Raja flossada Risso, 1827
  • Raia gaimardi Gaimard, 1851
  • Batis vulgaris Couch, 1862

The blue skate (Dipturus batis), also known as the grey skate or blue-grey skate, is a species of cartilaginous fish, a ray, belonging to the family Rajidae, the skates. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the flapper skate (D. batis), the combined taxon being known as the common skate.[3][4] Historically, it was one of the most abundant skates in the northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Despite its name, today it appears to be absent from much of this range.[5] Where previously abundant, fisheries directly targeted this skate and elsewhere it is caught incidentally as bycatch. The former species was uplisted to critically endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2006[1] and it is protected within the EU.[6]

Research published in 2009 and 2010 showed that the common skate should be split into two, the smaller southern D. cf. flossada (blue skate), and the larger northern D. cf. intermedius (flapper skate).[4][7][8][9] Under this taxonomic arrangement, the name D. batis is recommended to be discarded.[9][10] Currently, the scientific name D. batis (with flossada as a synonym) is retained for the blue skate and D. intermedius for the flapper skate.[11]

  1. ^ a b Ellis, J.R.; McCully-Philips, S.R.; Sims, D.; Derrick, D.; Cheok, J.; Dulvy, N.K. (2024) [amended version of 2021 assessment]. "Dipturus batis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024: e.T203364219A256580832. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Dipturus batis". FishBase. June 2024 version.
  3. ^ Florida Museum of Natural History. "Ray and Skate: Basic Questions". Retrieved 29 October 2007.
  4. ^ a b Griffiths AM; Sims DW; Cotterell SJ; et al. (2010). "Molecular markers reveal spatially-segregated cryptic species in a critically endangered fish, the common skate Dipturus batis". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 277: 1497–1503. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.2111. PMC 2871835.
  5. ^ Brander, K. (1981). "Disappearance of common skate Raja batis from Irish Sea". Nature. 290 (5801): 48–49. Bibcode:1981Natur.290...48B. doi:10.1038/290048a0. S2CID 4349670.
  6. ^ ICES (11 October 2016)5.3.12 Common skate (Dipturus batis-complex (blue skate (Dipturus batis) and flapper skate (Dipturus cf. intermedia)) in subareas 6–7 (excluding Division 7.d) (Celtic Seas and western English Channel) Archived 18 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine. ICES Advice 2016, Book 5.
  7. ^ Is 80-Year-Old Mistake Leading to First Species to Be Fished to Extinction?, ScienceDaily 17 November 2009
  8. ^ "Skate may be fished to extinction". BBC News.
  9. ^ a b Iglesias SP, Toulhoat L, Sellos DY. 2009. Taxonomic confusion and market mislabelling of threatened skates: important consequences for their conservation status. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 20: 319–333.
  10. ^ White W.T. and P.R. Last. 2012. A review of the taxonomy of chondrichthyan fishes: a modern perspective. Journal of Fish Biology 80: 901–917.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Last2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).