Species: Rajella fuliginea, Sooty Skate, Sooty Small Skate
snout short, blunt, rounded, tip stiff
eyes + semicircle of thorns
nape thorns in triangle
top disc & tail : denticles coarse, not dense
tail thorn rows: central & side

Rajella fuliginea Bigelow & Schroeder, 1954
Sooty Skate, Sooty Small Skate
Disc heart shaped, 1.1X wider than long, front edges straight, 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 angular, very blunt, stiff, length before eyes 10% TL; rostral cartilage solid and stiff to tip of snout; tail with moderately narrow base, long, gradually tapering, length 56-65% TL, with narrow side folds on rear 40%, 2 dorsal fins similar in size & shape, confluent, tail fin short, low dorsal lobe; pelvic fins consist of 2 lobes completely separated by a notch, front lobe 90% of length of rear lobe; thorns: a group of small thorns at front of snout ridge, a half ring of 4 around inner edges of eyes, a triangular patch of ~7 thorns on nape & shoulders, a row of 6 along center of back from nape to level of rear insertion of pectorals, then 3-4 irregular rows along front 80% of tail, then 2 thorns on midline before 1st dorsal fin; upper surface of disc (except rear edges of pectorals and front lobes of pelvics) & tail densely & uniformly covered with relatively coarse denticles; lower surface: disc free of denticles, tail with broad bands along edges, a narrow naked strip along center.
Top surface uniform dark grey, darkest on front lobes of pelvics; lower surface dark chocolate to black, darker than top, somewhat paler on pelvics and tail.
Reaches 45 cm.
Lives on soft bottoms
Depth range 731-1280 m.
The Gulf of Mexico to the southern Caribbean.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Offshore
- Offshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Bottom only
- Habitat
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- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Bathydemersal
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Data
- Bony fishes
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Mobile benthic worms
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Egg Type
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- Benthic
- Data
- No pelagic larva
- No pelagic phase
- Global Endemism
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- All species
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent
- Continent only
- GC endemic
- All species
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 45
- Depth Range Min
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- 731
- Depth Range Max
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- 1280