Abstract
The thorny skate [Amblyraja radiata (Donovan 1808); formerly Raja radiata, see McEachran and Dunn (1998); Figure 1] occurs on both sides of the Atlantic. In the western North Atlantic, it ranges from western Greenland, Davis straits, Hudson straits, Hudson Bay and Labrador to South Carolina. In the eastern North Atlantic, it ranges from Iceland, eastern Greenland, Barents Sea and off the coast of Spitzbergen to the English Channel and the southwestern coasts of Ireland and England (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953a, b; Stehmann and Burkel 1984; McEachran 2002). Bigelow and Schroeder (1953a) also reported that in the east it extends from the White Sea and Barents Sea to the North Sea, Dutch coast, and western part of Baltic. In the eastern South Atlantic it is found off South Africa (Hulley 1970). Thorny skate is one of the most abundant skates encountered in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off northeastern and southeastern Nova Scotia, and in the Gulf of Maine (McEachran and Musick 1975). This paper will focus mostly on the life history and habitat characteristics of thorny skate in the western Atlantic, especially in United States waters. McEachran (2002) distinguishes thorny skates from other skates in the Gulf of Maine by a combination of the following characters: the rostrum is stout and extends distinctly anterior to the anterior-most pectoral rays. Thorns with radiate bases are present in a single row along the midline of the disc and tail. The mid-row thorns from nuchal region to origin of first dorsal fin range from 11 to 19.