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skate

 
Dictionary: skate2   (skāt) pronunciation
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n.
Any of various rays of the genus Raja, having a flattened body and greatly expanded pectoral fins that extend around the head.

[Middle English scate, from Old Norse skata.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: skate
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Any of nine genera (suborder Rajoidea) of rounded to diamond-shaped rays. These bottom-dwellers are found from tropical to near-Arctic waters and from the shallows to depths of more than 9,000 ft (2,700 m). Most have spines on the upper surface, and some have weak electrical organs in their long, slender tails. Skates lay oblong, leathery eggs (called mermaid's purses), which are often found on beaches. Species vary from 20 in. (50 cm) to 8 ft (2.5 m) long. They swim with an undulating movement of their pectoral fins. They trap active mollusk, crustacean, and fish prey by dropping down on them from above. Skates' "wings" are edible.

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Food and Nutrition: skate
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Cartilaginous fish, Raja undulata.

Food Lover's Companion: skate
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This odd-looking, kite-shaped fish is also called a ray. The names are used interchangeably, though in some quarters the term "skate" is applied to the members of this species that are used for eating, while "ray" generally refers to those (like the electric ray and giant manta ray) that are fished for sport. Skates have winglike pectoral fins that undulate as the fish meanders along the ocean floor (there are also freshwater rays). The fins are the edible part of a skate. Their delicious flesh is firm, white and sweet-not unlike that of the scallop. Depending on the region, skate is available year-round. Like shark meat, skate must be soaked in acidulated water to remove its natural ammonia odor. Skate can be prepared in a variety of ways including poaching, baking and frying. See also fish.

Wikipedia: Skate
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This article is about the fish. For other uses, see Skate (disambiguation).
Skates
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous–Recent
[1]
Barndoor skate, Dipturus laevis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Batoidea
Order: Rajiformes
Family: Rajidae

Skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. There are more than 200 described species in 27 genera.

Contents

Description and habitat

Skates have flat pectoral fins continuous with their head, producing a flat rhomboidal body shape. They also have two dorsal fins and a short, spineless tail. They have rough or thorny skin, and the males have additional thorns on the outer edge of their fins, with which to grasp the female during mating. There are five pairs of gill slits, located on the fish's underside. Skates are typically less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) in body length, although the largest species reach twice this size.[2]

Skates are carnivorous, feeding mostly on smaller fish and crustaceans. They are bottom-dwelling fish, living in most oceans, although they are absent from much of the Pacific. They range from shallow estuaries to deep sea environments, depending on species.[2]


Genera

Conservation

Skates have slow growth rates and, since they mature late, low reproductive rates. As a result skates are vulnerable to overfishing and it appears that skates have been overfished and are suffering reduced population levels in many parts of the world. The barndoor skate, Raja laevis, is currently listed with the IUCN as vulnerable due to being severely overfished.[3] However, population data is lacking to determine the exploitation of the big skate at this time.

Gallery

Skate (Raja erinacea).

Broad skate, Amblyraja badia.

Skate wings.

A Skate, half-buried beneath the sand.

A cut-away view of a Skate egg case.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rajidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2009 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Stevens, J. & Last, P.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 
  3. ^ http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/bigskate/bigskate.html Florida Museum of Natural History

External links

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Skate".  Read more