Species: Breviraja claramaculata, Brightspot Skate

Breviraja claramaculata McEachran & Matheson, 1985

Brightspot Skate

Heart-shaped disc, wider (1.1-1.23X) than long, with front margins undulating, tips of pectorals round; snout flexible, short, blunt, supported to near its tip by a cartilage with a very slender tip; pectoral rays extending nearly to tip of snout; eyes on top of head, with spiracles immediately behind; nostrils a little in front of mouth, with front lobes from nostrils forming a curtain between them and mouth; pelvic fin with 2 distinct lobes joined by membrane, rear lobe large, front lobe 67-76% length of rear lobe; upper surface of disc sparsely covered with small denticles except on pelvic lobes; thorns not conspicuously large, with smooth basal cones, a patch of small thorns on front of snout, 3-4 before and 2-3 after inner edges of eyes, a triangular patch of 16-24 on nape and shoulders, 3 central rows of small thorns from level of maximum disc width back to origin of first dorsal fin, with another row on each side along front half of tail, thorns on tail larger than those on disc; underside of disc and tail smooth; tail 1.4-1.65X length of disc, width of its base distinctly >eye; tail with 2 dorsal fins, those touching, tail fin with poorly developed upper lobe that joins 2nd dorsal fin, no lower lobe; side of tail with a narrow fold along rear ¼ of tail; sex organs of males rod-shaped, tapering to a narrow tip.

Top surface of disc tan, with 4-8 symmetrical white spots; lower surface white, with tan disc edges.

Reaches 29.4 cm.

Lives on soft bottoms

Depth range 293-896 m.

South Carolina to the Florida Keys, the NE Gulf of Mexico.