All their eggs in one basket: a rocky reef nursery for the longnose skate (Raja rhina Jordan & Gilbert, 1880) in the southern California Bight

Skates (family Rajidae) are oviparous and lay tough, thick-walled eggs. At least some skate species lay their eggs in spatially restricted nursery grounds where embryos develop and hatch (Hitz, 1964; Hoff, 2007). After hatching, neonates may quickly leave the nursery grounds (Hoff, 2007). Egg densit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Love, Milton S., Schroeder, Donna M., Snook, Linda, York, Anne, Cochrane, Guy
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Biology
Ecology
Fisheries
Bering Sea
Alaska
Online Access:http://aquaticcommons.org/8827/
http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1064/love.pdf
http://aquaticcommons.org/8827/1/love_Fish_Bull_2008.pdf
Description
Summary:Skates (family Rajidae) are oviparous and lay tough, thick-walled eggs. At least some skate species lay their eggs in spatially restricted nursery grounds where embryos develop and hatch (Hitz, 1964; Hoff, 2007). After hatching, neonates may quickly leave the nursery grounds (Hoff, 2007). Egg densities in these small areas may be quite high. As an example, in the eastern Bering Sea, a site <2 km2 harbored eggs of Alaska skate (Bathyraja parmifera) exceeding 500,000/km2. All skate nursery grounds have been identified over soft sea floors (Lucifora and García, 2004; Hoff, 2007).

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