Winter Skate

Maximum longevity: 21 years (wild) Observations: Record longevity has been reported to be 21 years (http://www.fishbase.org/).

Webpage with PDFs for correctly identified images of juvenile Leucoraja ocellata and Rajella fyllae. Original PDF resource with mistaken identification available at Fisheries and Oceans Canada digital library:http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/libraries-bibliotheques/toc-tdm/339571-eng.htm

Disk rounded, with many small dark spots on upper surface. Usually 1-4 ocelli on upper surface on each side of disk, each with a dark brownish center and pale edge. Young have long middorsal row of large spines on disk and tail. Upper jaw has 72 rows of teeth (Ref. 7251). Lower surface usually white but marked with irregular pale brownish blotches (Ref. 6902).

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).

Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Prefers cool temperatures. Feeds on amphipods and polychaetes (important foods); also include fishes, decapods, isopods and bivalves. They are eaten by sharks, other rays and grey seals. Parasites of the species include 1 protozoan, 1 myxosporidian, 2 trematodes, 6 cestodes and 3 nematodes (Ref. 5951).

Prefer sandy and gravelly bottoms in shoal water in the north range; to at least 90 m in south (Ref. 7251). Benthic (Ref. 5951). Those caught at Cans, Nova Scotia in Canada were found to have eaten dollarfish, cunner, and squid. Mostly inactive during daylight hours, but active under dark conditions (Ref. 10807). Oviparous. 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 5.5-9.9 cm long and 3.5-5.3 cm wide (Ref. 41249, 7135, 71301).Electric organ discharge (EOD) activity seemed more frequent during dark periods (Ref. 10808). The individual EOD of this species is monophasic, head-negative, and lasts 217 ms (Ref. 10011). This species is used only for the manufacture of fish meal.

The winter skate (Leucoraja ocellata) is a globally-endangered species of skate found in the surrounding waters of northeastern North America. They inhabit shallow shelf waters and are prone to bycatch during commercial fishing.

Especially crustaceans and amphipods, though polychaetes, molluscs and fishes are also consumed.

Newfoundland Banks and southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to North Carolina

Preferred depth of 37-90m and temperature range of 5-9 C.

benthic