United Kingdom country information

Common names: Butterfly skate, Cuckoo ray, Morgath lygadog
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: fairly common (chances are about 50%) | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Common in the Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and northern North Sea (12-290 m). The maximum catch rate was 58 ind./hr. This species was rarely recorded in the eastern English Channel and southern North Sea. Juveniles were rarely caught in the English Channel and Bristol Channel and were more abundant in the southern Irish Sea and St George's Channel. Juveniles were also caught in the Celtic Sea and northwestern North Sea (Ref. 82399).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Wheeler, A., 1992
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Raie fleurie, Raya santiguesa, Butterfly skate, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Rajiformes (Skates and rays) > Rajidae (Skates)
Etymology: Leucoraja: Greek, leykos = white + Latin, raja = a fish, Raja sp. (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Müller & Henle.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 12 - 900 m (Ref. 106604), usually 20 - 250 m (Ref. 11284). Subtropical; 63°N - 15°N, 18°W - 36°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: Kattegat (Ref. 3167) and North Sea, around Great Britain, Ireland and the Mediterranean to Morocco and Senegal.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 57.5, range 45 - 71.8 cm
Max length : 81.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 106604); 68.0 cm TL (female); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3261)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Snout short; upper surface entirely spinulose, but centre of pectoral fins more or less bare in adults, underside smooth except for prickly front edges; generally 9-13 thorns in a complete row around inner margin of eye, and a large triangle of thorns on nape or shoulder region; two parallel rows of strong thorns on each side of midline along tail; upper surface ochre to light greyish-brown with a large roundish black eye-spot in middle of each pectoral fin, underside white (Ref. 3167)

Feed on all kinds of bottom animals (Ref. 3167). 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 5.0-7.0 cm long and 3.1-3.9 cm wide (Ref. 41250). Around 70-150 eggs are laid per individual annually (Ref. 41250).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

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. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 25 November 2014

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums

FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 7.2 - 16.7, mean 10.5 (based on 1278 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00245 (0.00211 - 0.00285), b=3.22 (3.18 - 3.26), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.2 ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.11-0.16; tm=8-9; tmax=28; Fec<100).

Prior r = 0.41, 95% CL = 0.27 - 0.61, Based on 1 full stock assessment.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): Low to moderate vulnerability (35 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Leucoraja naevus (Müller & Henle, 1841)