United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Little skate
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Continental shelf waters off the northeastern United States (Ref. 37512). Reported from Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Hatteras, abundant from George Bank to Delaware Bay (Ref. 27549).
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986
National Database:

Classification / Names

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Rajiformes (Skates and rays) > Rajidae (Skates)
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Raie hérisson, Raie-hérisson, Raie hérisson, ... more

Main reference

McEachran, J.D. and K.A. Dunn. 1998. (Ref. 27314)
References | Biblio | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 54.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1126)

Length at first maturity
L_m ?, range 32 - 43 cm

Environment

Marine; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 329 m (Ref. 5951)

Climate / Range

Temperate, preferred 12°C (Ref. 107945); 49°N - 33°N, 78°W - 59°W (Ref. 55277)

Distribution

Western Atlantic: southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and Nova Scotia in Canada to North Carolina, USA.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Usually on sandy or gravelly bottoms from shoal waters to 90 m depth (Ref. 7251), with temperature range of 1.2-21°C. Benthic (Ref. 5951). Mostly inactive during daylight, but active under dark conditions (Ref. 10807). Feeds on bottom-dwelling organisms such as crabs, shrimps, polychaetes, sea squirts, mollusks, squids and bony fishes (Ref. 27549). 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 4.6-6.3 cm long and 2.7-4.8 cm wide, about 10-35 eggs are laid annually (Ref. 41250). Possesses an electric organ located in the tail region (Ref. 10807). Electric organ discharge (EOD) activity is intermittent (Ref. 10011) and seemed more frequent during dark periods (Ref. 10808). The individual EOD of this species is monophasic, head-negative, and lasts 70 ms (Ref. 10011).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Near Threatened (NT)

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD₅₀ = 0.5000 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
3.6 ±0.1 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.29-0.35; tm=4.5; Fec=10)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
High vulnerability (57 of 100)

Price category (Ref. 80766)
Low

Leucoraja erinacea (Mitchill, 1825)