Leucoraja wallacei (Hulley, 1970)
Yellowspotted skate
Leucoraja wallacei
photo by Le Noury, P.

Family:  Rajidae (Skates)
Max. size:  100 cm TL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  bathydemersal; brackish; marine; depth range 70 - 517 m
Distribution:  Southeast Atlantic and Western Indian Ocean: Lüderitz, Namibia round the Cape (South Africa) to southern Mozambique.
Diagnosis:  A distinctive skate with bright yellow spots, often in rosettes and whorls and sometimes forming eye-like markings on pectoral bases (Ref. 5578). Snout short, broad and blunt, disc narrow, and tail longer than body; disc very rough with 2-4 rows of thorns from midback to 1st dorsal fin, and with broadly rounded corners (Ref. 5578). Yellowish brown above, white below; some grey-brown above with white spots (Ref. 5578).
Biology:  Found in offshore areas on soft bottoms (Ref. 5578). Feed on bony fish and benthic invertebrates (Ref. 5578). 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 7.3 cm long and 4.2 cm wide (Ref. 41249). Caught by hake trawlers (Ref. 5578).
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU); Date assessed: 01 August 2019 (A2bd) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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