You can sponsor this page

Beringraja binoculata  (Girard, 1855)

Big skate
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Beringraja binoculata (Big skate)
Beringraja binoculata
Picture by Gotshall, D.W.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Rajiformes (Skates and rays) > Rajidae (Skates) > Rajinae
Etymology: Beringraja: Named for the Bering Sea, though to be the origin of the two species in this genus.;  binoculata: From the Latin 'bi' meaning two and 'oculata' meaning eyed - referring to the arrangement of pigment on the pectoral fin bases (Ref. 6885).   More on author: Girard.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 3 - 800 m (Ref. 6793), usually 3 - 110 m (Ref. 2850).   Temperate, preferred ?; 61°N - 31°N, 165°W - 117°W (Ref. 55279)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North Pacific: Glubokaya Bay, Cape Navarin, and Stalemate Bank to Cedros Island, Baja California, Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 130 - ? cm
Max length : 244 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); common length : 180 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); max. published weight: 91.0 kg (Ref. 2850)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0. Dorsal fins well back on tail, small; caudal and anal fins absent; pectorals broad, attached to snout and incorporated with body; pelvic fins large, moderately concave on free margins (Ref. 6885). Posterior sides of tail with a small fleshy keel on either side (Ref. 6885).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Largest skate in North America (Ref. 2850). Feed on crustaceans and fishes (Ref. 6885). 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 22.8-30.5 cm long and 11.0-19.4 cm wide (Ref. 41249, 41300, 41357). Pectoral fins utilized for human consumption (Ref. 2850). Marketed fresh and frozen; eaten fried and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Up to 7 embryos per egg case (Ref. 2850). 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).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

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. (Ref. 27314)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

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

BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.9   ±0.64 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (85 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.