Rostroraja texana ( Chandler, 1921 )

Jones, Christian M., Driggers Iii, William B., Hannan, Kristin M., Hoffmayer, Eric R., Jones, Lisa M. & Raredon, Sandra J., 2020, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyan fishes inhabiting the northern Gulf of Mexico Part 1: Batoidea, Zootaxa 4803 (2), pp. 281-315 : 293-294

Rostroraja texana ( Chandler, 1921) —roundel skate

Synonyms:

Raia texana Chandler, 1921

Raja texana Chandler, 1921

Distribution. Distributed throughout the northern GOM but more common west of the Mississippi River than east. Commonly reported as distributed from the shore out to 110 m depth throughout their range, although NMFS SEFSC trawl surveys have reported this species from depths up to 330 m in the northern GOM.

First Record in GOM. This species was described ( Chandler 1921) based on a specimen (USNM 84162, Figure 10 ) collected near the jetties off Galveston, Texas in November of 1920. There is, however, a specimen collected earlier in the same year deposited in the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH 40226).

Remarks. The placement of this and other incertae sedis Raja of the “Amphi-American Assemblage” ( McEachran and Dunn 1998) in the previously monotypic genus Rostroraja Hulley, 1972 is provisional based on unpublished molecular data ( Last et al. 2016). This species is similar in appearance to Rostroraja ackleyi , with which its range overlaps, possibly leading to misidentification between the two species.

Conservation Status. Data Deficient (as Raja texana )

Figures

FIGURE 10. Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) perspectives of the holotype of Rostroraja texana (USNM 84162) collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Photographs by Sandra J. Raredon, USNM.