First observation of a skate egg case nursery in the Ross Sea

Abstract Areas of importance to Southern Ocean skates are poorly defined. Here, we identify a deepwater skate egg case nursery in a discrete location at ~460 m depth off Cape Adare in the Southern Ocean. This is the first confirmed observation of a skate nursery area in the Ross Sea and only the sec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Fish Biology
Main Authors: Finucci, Brittany, Chin, Caroline, O'Neill, Helen L., White, William T., Pinkerton, Matthew H.
Other Authors: Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment, University of Auckland
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024
Subjects:
Aquatic Science
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Adare
Cape Adare
Ross Sea
Southern Ocean
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15688
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jfb.15688
Description
Summary:Abstract Areas of importance to Southern Ocean skates are poorly defined. Here, we identify a deepwater skate egg case nursery in a discrete location at ~460 m depth off Cape Adare in the Southern Ocean. This is the first confirmed observation of a skate nursery area in the Ross Sea and only the second observation for the Southern Ocean. The morphology and size of the egg cases were consistent with the genus Bathyraja and most likely belong to the Bathyraja sp. (cf. eatonii ). The nursery occurs within the “no take” General Protection Zone of the Ross Sea region marine protected area, where commercial fishing is prohibited.

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