Species: Raja binoculata, Big skate

Raja binoculata Girard, 1855

Big skate

Rhomboidal disc of flattened, pointed head, body and pectoral fins; front edges of disc straight; snout hard, long, bluntly pointed, triangular; large spiracles behind eyes; pelvic fins with 2 distinct lobes, rear one large, with a weak notch; spines on rear borders only of ventral side; 2 small dorsal fins at rear of tail, no tail fin; spines around eyes (buried in skin in large fish), none on shoulders, 1 on mid-back, a central row from (or behind) pelvic fins backward along tail; large adults with small denticles on upper surface.

Upper surface grey, brown, red-brown to black, with many small white spots, sometimes forming rosettes; dark mottling and two prominent eyespots; lower surface pale, sometimes with dark blotches.

Size: 244 cm.

Habitat: soft bottom.

Depth: 1-800 m.

Alaska to the Gulf of California.