Dipturus campbelli (Blackspot skate)

(Wallace, 1967)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii > Batoidei > Rajoidei > Rajidae

Dipturus campbelli (Blackspot skate) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A black-spotted longnosed skate with an elongated acutely triangular snout, disk with rounded corners, tail stout, slightly shorter than body, and slightly swollen along its midlength, small thorns on nape and on midback to 1st dorsal fin, and underside of disk without small denticles except on snout tip and edges. Colour medium grey or brownish above, grey below with many small black spots on upper surface, conspicuous black pores on lower surface.

Size

To at least 66 cm TL, 55 cm DW.

Range

East coast, off Durban and central Mozambique. Endemic.

Habitat

Outer continental shelf and upper slope on bottom at 137 to 403 m deep.

Biology

Unknown. Rare, more wanted. Formerly considered the same as the slime skate (below), but clearly distinct.

Human Impact

Probably caught by trawlers off Natal and Mozambique.

Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert and Malcolm J. Smale