Clearnose Skate, Rostroraja eglanteria
Clearnose Skate, Rostroraja eglanteria. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, December 2013. Disc width: 32 cm (13 inches); disc length: 30 cm (12 inches); tail: 17.0 cm (6.7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.
Clearnose Skate, Rostroraja eglanteria. Fish caught from coastal waters off Williamington, North Carolina, December 2015. Length: 34 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
The Clearnose Skate, Rostroraja eglanteria, is a member of the Skate or Rajidae Family, and is known in Mexico as raya naricita. Globally, there are thirty-two species in the genus Raja, of which eight are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.
The Clearnose Skate has a diamond-shaped body with their snout and pectoral fins forming a flattened disc that includes their head, body, and pectoral fins. The front edge of their disc can be straight or convex and their snout and pectoral fins are at a right angle. They have a pointed head and pointed “wings”. They are light brown to gray with darker spots and bars dorsally and transition to white ventrally. Their snout is translucent after which they are named. They have a series of small dark spots and bars on their back. They have a rigid pointed snout and large spiracles behind their eyes. They have small blunt teeth that are set close together with 46 to 54 teeth on their upper jaw and 48 teeth on their lower jaw. Their disc is slightly wider than it is long and their tail is 57% of disc length. They have 2 dorsal fins located at the base of their tail; they do not have a caudal fin; and, their pelvic fins have 2 distinct lobes with the rear lobe being the largest. Their disc is covered with small thin oval spines. They have 1 row of thorns that run from the nape of their neck along the back to the tail, another row on each side of their tail, a row inside and before their eyes, and 4 or 5 short rows on the edges of their disc opposite the eyes.
The Clearnose Skate is a demersal species that is found along shallow waters of the continental shelf over soft substrate like mud and sand or on harder surfaces like rock and gravel at depths up to 300 m (1,000 feet). They have a maximum disc width of 48 cm (19 inches) and maximum total length of 84 cm (2 feet 9 inches) and their tail is approximately half the disc length. As of January 1, 2023, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 3.49 kg (7 lbs 11 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Virginia in June 2017. They can be found in water temperatures between 6.3oC (43oF) and 27oC (81oF). They are known to make seasonal northward migrations moving to cooler waters during the summer months and returning south in the fall and winter. During cold water episodes they are also known to move to deeper waters. They are sexually dimorphic with males having sharper teeth than females. They are nighttime predators consuming crabs, mollusks, shrimp, and small fish. In turn they are preyed upon by various larger sharks. Reproduction is oviparous with females being able to store sperm for at least three months. Large fertilized eggs are laid in black or dark green leathery shells, known as mermaid’s purses, that have an oblong outline with a hollow tendril at each corner, which is used to attach to marine objects; these are deposited in sandy and muddy flats that are approximately 7.0 cm (2.8 inches) long and 4.2 cm (1.6 inches) wide. They are produced in pairs with each case containing up to seven embryos and each female producing up to 66 eggs per year. The embryos emerge in approximately twelve weeks as miniature adults that are 13.0 cm (5.1 inches) to 15.0 cm (5.9 inches) in total length with disc widths of 8.4 cm (3.3 inches) to 10.5 cm (4.1 inches). They have lifespans of five years. The Clearnose Skate is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Clearnose Skate is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean but has a limited distribution being found only in the western portions of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Clearnose Skate is similar in shape to the Gulf Skate, Fenestraja sinusmexicanus, the Roundel Skate, Rostroraja texana, and the Spreadfin Skate, Dipturus olseni, but the snout of all three is solid in color and similar to the dorsal body coloration.
From a conservation perspective the Clearnose Skate is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are a frequent catch of recreational anglers but deemed to be of limited value. They are not targeted commercially due to their small size but are caught with some frequency by otter trawls. They are not considered excessively dangerous to humans as they lack the venomous spines found in stingrays, however the thorns on their back can be truly lethal. They adapt well to captivity and have become a popular component of large public aquariums.