Rajella fuliginea ( Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954 )

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 : 291

Rajella fuliginea ( Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954) —sooty skate

Synonyms: Raja fuliginea Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954

Distribution. Distributed widely throughout the northern GOM from Port St. Joe, Florida to the Texas/ Mexico border in waters from approximately 730 to 1,280 m in depth.

First Record in GOM. This species was originally described ( Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954) from a single specimen (USNM 163367, Figure 8 ) collected aboard the RV Oregon in 1952 from the northwestern GOM, almost due south of Lake Charles, Louisiana ( Springer and Bullis 1956).

Remarks. The biology of this species is very poorly known due to its depth preference being outside of the range of most fisheries and research operations.

Conservation Status. Least Concern

Figures

FIGURE 8. Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) perspectives of the holotype of Rajella fuliginea (USNM 163367) collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Photographs by Sandra J. Raredon, USNM.