Dipturus olseni
Spreadfin Skate
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Rajiformes (Skates)
Rajidae (Skates)
Dipturus
Dipturus olseni (Spreadfin Skate)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Lozenge-shaped disc, long dorsal lobe, moderately long slightly acute snout, moderately slender tail with two dorsal fins and dermal denticles. Small thorns on orbital rim and along midline of tail. Preorbital length 16-17% TL, pectoral radials extend to midlength of snout, 34-41 tooth rows in upper jaw, anterior pelvic lobe connected to posterior lobe, lateral margin of pelvic fin deeply incised, tail 51-53% TL with lateral folds, dorsal fins similar in size and shape, separated by interspace equal to first dorsal fin base.
Dark brown with small, vague dark spots dorsally, gray to black ventrally. Ampullar pores light pigmented dorsally and dark pigmented ventrally.
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Depth range: 55 to 384 m.
Biology
Maximum known size is 568 mm TL.
Males mature at 511 mm TL.
Found on outer continental shelf and upper slope (Ref. 114953). Moderately deep water species (Ref. 6902). Oviparous (Ref. 50449). Eggs have horn-like projections on the shell (Ref. 205). Males reaches maturity at ca. 51cm TL, females at ca. 59cm TL; hatching size unknown (Ref. 114953).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2019-06-24. Resilience: Low (Fec assumed to be <100).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1951b
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953a
Bigelow and Schroeder 1962
Bigelow and Schroeder 1968b
Hoese and Moore 1977
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Bigelow, H.B. and W.C. Schroeder (1953) Sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates and rays. p. 1-514. In J. Tee-Van et al. (eds.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part two. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
McEachran, J.D. and K.A. Dunn (1998) Phylogenetic analysis of skates, a morphologically conservative clade of elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae). Copeia 1998(2):271-290.
Last, P.R., W.T. White, M.R. de Carvalho, B. Séret, M.F.W. Stehmann and G.J.P. Naylor (2016) Rays of the world. CSIRO Publishing, Comstock Publishing Associates. i-ix + 1-790.
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