Species: Rajella bigelowi, Abyssal Skate, Bigelow's Skate

Rajella bigelowi (Stehmann, 1978)

Abyssal Skate, Bigelow's Skate

Disc heart shaped, front edges ~straight in female, sinuous in male, the outer corners broadly rounded; pectorals fused to disc from head back to insertion of pelvic fins, their skeletal supports end distinctly before tip of snout; snout bluntly angular, stiff; rostral cartilage solid and stiff to tip of snout; tail with moderately narrow base, long, gradually tapering, length 60% TL, with narrow side folds on rear ¼, dorsal fins low, small, confluent, tail fin small, separate from 2nd dorsal; pelvic fins consist of 2 lobes completely separated by a notch; thorns: usually a patch of small thorns on tip of snout, in a half ring around inner edges of eyes, a large triangular patch of 10-20 large thorns on nape & shoulders, a row of 26-33 along center of back from nape to 1st dorsal fin, with 1-2 parallel rows of ~30 thorns alongside that on rear of body and tail; upper surface of disc & tail completely covered with coarse denticles, except a bare patch on center of each pectoral of males, lower surface: disc free of denticles, tail with broad bands along edges, a naked strip along center.

Top surface uniformly dark- to light grey, with center of back lighter, young fish may be limy white; lower surface darker than top, with tail lighter.

Reaches 55 cm.

Lives on soft bottoms

Depth range 367-4156 m, usually below 1500 m.

Both sides of the north Atlantic; Canada south, a few records off S Florida and the NE Gulf of Mexico.