Spinetail Ray

• It lays horny, rectangular egg cases with a horn at each corner, which lie on the bottom for months; these are the mermaid's purses that sometimes wash up on beaches.
• It grows very slowly and matures late, which makes it especially vulnerable to the deep-sea trawling that takes it as bycatch.
• Like all skates, it breathes through its spiracles, two openings behind the eyes that let it draw in clean water while resting on the mud.
• It is one of the largest skates in the North Atlantic, reaching 182 cm in total length.
• The disc lacks thorns except near the edge of the pectoral fins in males, but the tail bears a dorsal row of large thorns, which is what gives the species its name.
• Like all true skates, it is oviparous: it lays horny capsules that rest on the seabed, a very slow mode of reproduction that makes it vulnerable to trawling.
• Trawl surveys by the Russian institute PINRO in the Barents Sea have recorded it alongside five other skate species, and it is among the least abundant.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - cartilaginous skeleton (chondrichthyan)

Habitat and environment

North Atlantic slope bottoms, between 140 and 1,500 m

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathyraja_spinicauda

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.