South Africa country information

Common names: Bottlenose skate, Spearnose skate, Spiesneus-rog
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: common (usually seen) | Ref: Compagno, L.J.V., D.A. Ebert and M.J. Smale, 1989
Importance: minor commercial | Ref: van der Elst, R., 1993
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: restricted | Ref: van der Elst, R., 1993
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Occurs througout the coast. Found on shallow, sandy bottoms off the Cape coast; close inshore in intertidal and subtidal in shallow bays in the western Cape; and at depths of 30 to 366 m depth in Natal. Caught by shore and skiboat anglers and commercial trawlers. Spearfishing of this species is illegal in Natal (Ref. 12484). Also Ref. 4426.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Ebert, D.A., S.P. Wintner and P.M. Kyne, 2021
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Raie blanche, Raya bramante, شِنين بحري بيضاء, ... 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: Rostroraja: Latin, rostrum = beak + Latin, raja, -ae = a sting ray (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lacepède.

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

Marine; demersal; depth range 30 - 600 m (Ref. 6808), usually 50 - 500 m (Ref. 26999). Subtropical; 56°N - 37°S, 19°W - 23°E

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

Eastern Atlantic and southwest Indian Ocean (British Isles to Mozambique) and the Mediterranean Sea.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 230 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 11284); 202.0 cm TL (female)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

A giant skate with a broad-based, abruptly narrow-tipped snout covered with small, sharp thorns; pectoral disc angular, and no thorns on nape or back, but three rows of large thorns on tail (Ref. 5578). Larger immature and adult individuals grey with numerous small white spots above, underside white with no black pores; hatchlings plain reddish-brown above, often with blue spots, and white below with broad dusky grey margins on disc (Ref. 5578).

Inhabit shelf and slope waters (Ref. 4426). Found on sand and rock-sand bottom (Ref. 6808). A bottom-predator of bony fishes, other elasmobranchs, fish offal, crabs, shrimps, mysids, octopi, and cuttlefish (Ref. 5578). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 4426. Maximum length for female is 202 cm (Ref. 41333). 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 12.5-18.3 cm long and 10.0-13.9 cm wide (Ref. 41250). About 55-156 eggs are produced per individual annually (Ref. 41250).

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

Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449). Eggs are laid in huge cases and take up to 18 months to hatch (Ref. 5578). 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)

Endangered (EN) (A2cd+4cd); Date assessed: 31 January 2006

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Traumatogenic (Ref. 5578)

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 8.8 - 17.5, mean 13.5 (based on 474 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00269 (0.00232 - 0.00313), b=3.22 (3.18 - 3.26), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.4 ±0.83 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec=55).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Rostroraja alba (Lacepède, 1803)