Brochiraja microspinifera Last & McEachran, 2006

Family:  Arhynchobatidae (Softnose skates)
Max. size:  32.5 cm TL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  bathydemersal; marine; depth range 600 - 1200 m
Distribution:  Southwest Pacific: New Zealand.
Diagnosis:  A dwarf species with the following combination of characters: tail moderately elongate, 1.2-1.4 times disc length, 2.5-2.7 times ventral head length, 5.3-6.3 times snout length; orbit moderately large, 2.1-2.8 in preorbital snout length; tail base moderately broad, width at pelvic-fin insertions 2.1-3.1 times width at midlength; fine dermal dentic1es present over entire dorsal disc; rostral thorns reduced in adult, about equidistant from orbit and snout tip (snout length 1.8-2.1 times their distance from snout tip); mid-dorsal surface of tail naked apart from single row of moderately enlarged thorns extending anteriorly onto interpelvic space; dorsolateral surface of tail with numerous smaller thorns and large denticles; single preorbital thorn, postorbital thorn absent; ventral disc and tail naked; calcified rostral shaft short; alar thorns in small, well-defined patch; malar thorns absent; both surfaces of disc dark brown; with or without pale-edged pores on ventral surface; nuchal pore band indistinct; total pectoral radials 58-63; predorsal vertebrae 81-88; tooth rows in the upper jaw 33-37 (Ref. 58023).
Biology:  Male paratype mature at 27 cm TL; no information on juveniles (Ref. 58023).
IUCN Red List Status: Data deficient (DD); Date assessed: 22 June 2017 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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