Leucoraja garmani
Rosette Skate
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Rajiformes (Skates)
Rajidae (Skates)
Leucoraja
Leucoraja garmani (Rosette 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
Heart-shaped disc, moderately short obtuse snout, moderately broad tail with two dorsal fins, poorly developed caudal fin; preorbital length 9-10% TL, snout angle 112-120°; pectoral radials extend to about three-fourths snout length; mouth moderately to strongly arched; 44-55 tooth rows in upper jaw; oronasal pit absent; anterior pelvic lobe connected to posterior lobe, 48-56% of posterior lobe; lateral margin of pelvic fin deeply incised; tail length 59-61% TL with lateral folds; dorsal fins similar in size and shape, separated by interspace equal to 10-38% of first dorsal fin base length; caudal fin with moderately long dorsal lobe and short ventral lobe; dorsal surface with dermal denticles in juveniles, largely devoid in adults; small thorns on rostrum and orbital rim; large thorns in triangular patch on nuchal and scapular regions, and along midbelt in 2-5 rows; midrow thorns on medial section of tail small or absent in adults; ventral surface naked except for dermal denticles on tip of snout in adults
Buff or brown dorsally with small dark to black spots forming symmetrical rosette patterns; white to pale yellow ventrally; dark spots concentrated to form bars on tail
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from Cape Hatteras to the Dry Tortugas
Gulf of Mexico (as part of the broader range from Cape Hatteras to the Dry Tortugas)
Habitat Associations
Between 66 and 366 m depth
Biology
Maximum known size is 335 mm TL
Occur mostly on outer edge of continental shelf and upper part of continental slope (Ref. 7251). Known salinities at which it has been taken 33.8 off Block Island to 35.3 off Chesapeake bay (Ref. 6902). Feed mostly on decapod crustaceans and to a lesser extent on amphipods, polychaetes, squids and fishes. Oviparous (Ref. 50449). Distinct pairing with embrace. Young may tend to follow large objects, such as their mother (Ref. 205). Eggs are oblong capsules with stiff pointed horns at the corners deposited in sandy or muddy flats (Ref. 205). Egg capsules are 3.7-5.4 cm long and 2.6-3.0 cm wide (Ref. 41301, 41298). Marketed fresh and salted (Ref. 3824).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: internal (oviduct); nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449). Distinct pairing with embrace. Young may tend to follow large objects, such as their mother (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2019-06-19. 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
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1951b
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953a
Bigelow and Schroeder 1954b
Bigelow and Schroeder 1962
Bigelow and Schroeder 1965
Bigelow and Schroeder 1968b
McEachran 1970
McEachran 1977 (as Raja lentiginosa in part)
McEachran and Musick 1975
McEachran and Compagno 1982
C. R. Robins et al. 1986 (all as Raja garmani)
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
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.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Weigmann, S. (2016) Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity. J. Fish Biol. 88(1):1-201. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12874
Weigmann, S., M.F.W. Stehmann, B. Séret and H. Ishihara (2024) Description of a remarkable new skate species of Leucoraja Malm, 1877 (Rajiformes, Rajidae) from the Southwestern Indian Ocean: introducing 3D modeling as an innovative tool for the visualization of clasper characters. Biology 13:1-46.
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