All their eggs in one basket: a rocky reef nursery for the longnose skate (Raja rhina Jordan & Gilbert, 1880) in the southern California Bight

Love, Milton S. and Schroeder, Donna M. and Snook, Linda and York, Anne and Cochrane, Guy (2008) All their eggs in one basket: a rocky reef nursery for the longnose skate (Raja rhina Jordan & Gilbert, 1880) in the southern California Bight. Fishery Bulletin, 106(4), pp. 471-475.

Preview

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (776Kb) | Preview

Abstract

Skates (family Rajidae) are oviparous and lay tough, thick-walled eggs. At least some skate species lay their eggs in spatially restricted nursery grounds where embryos develop and hatch (Hitz, 1964; Hoff, 2007). After hatching, neonates may quickly leave the nursery grounds (Hoff, 2007). Egg densities in these small areas may be quite high. As an example, in the eastern Bering Sea, a site <2 km2 harbored eggs of Alaska skate (Bathyraja parmifera) exceeding 500,000/km2. All skate nursery grounds have been identified over soft sea floors (Lucifora and García, 2004; Hoff, 2007).

Actions (login required)