Thorny skate

Starry ray ( Amblyraja radiata)

The starry ray ( Amblyraja radiata ) is a ray, which is to be found in the North Atlantic and the North and Baltic Seas.

Features

The starry ray reaches a body length of up to one meter, which he usually is, however, only about 60 inches long. He has a skate for typical flattened body, which is formed wide and diamond-shaped. The snout is pointed, the eyes and spiracles small and the pectoral fins rounded. The back side is light brown with numerous small spots, the underside is white in color.

The two almost equally long dorsal fins are located on the caudal peduncle. On the top there are also numerous small and large thorns.

Dissemination

The starry ray lives on the seabed in the North Atlantic from Svalbard and Greenland to the English Channel to the east and the Hudson Bay and South Carolina in the west. He is also to be found in the North Sea and the Baltic, where he can live near major rivers in brackish water.

Way of life

Like the majority of rays is also the starry ray is a ground- dwelling fish, where it lives mainly on sandy and rocky bottoms at depths between 20 and 100 meters is to be found, more rarely it reaches depths up to 1,000 meters. It feeds on crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms and small fish.

Sexual maturity at the skates are from a length of about 30 centimeters. The females lay from large, about three to seven inches long and hairy egg capsules.

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