Bathyraja spinossisima Beebe & Tee-Van 1941

• Main Authors: Ebert, David A., Davis, Chante D.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2007
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Elasmobranchii; Rajiformes; Arhynchobatidae; Bathyraja; Bathyraja spinossisima; Bering Sea; Galapagos; Pacific
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6246892; https://zenodo.org/record/6246892

Bathyraja spinossisima (Beebe & Tee­Van, 1941) Description : The egg case of Bathyraja spinossisima (Figure 6) is large, about 92 mm in length excluding horns, with MAW of 73 % ECL. The surface is weakly striated, with both dorsal and ventral surfaces being plush to the touch. LKW is very narrow, about 3 % of ECL, and extending onto horns. Attachment fibers are absent. Anterior apron broadly concaved, curving perpendicular from horizontal plane of egg case, and narrowing at tips. Posterior apron about 7 mm wider than anterior, nearly straight, broad, and transverse. Posterior horns about two­thirds ECL, curved inwards, and narrowing to tips. Egg case color after preservation is a uniform plum brown. Remarks : A single egg case originally identified by Follett (1952: Figure 1) as that of Bathyraja trachura based on a near term embryo found inside was subsequently described by Cox (1963). This egg case has also been inaccurately illustrated in the literature as being that of B . trachura (Eschmeyer et al., 1983; Mecklenberg et al., 2002; Ebert, 2003). However, Ebert (2005) examined this egg case and embryo (CAS 25617), and compared it with egg cases removed in utero from B . trachura , and concluded that the embryo fit that of the holotype of B . spinossisima . Miller and Lea (1972) first reported the occurrence of B . spinossisma from the ENP based on this specimen, but without explanation, only giving the museum catalogue number where it is deposited. At the time Follett (1952) and Cox (1963) identified this egg case as B . trachura , B. spinossisima had not been reported from the ENP. The holotype of B. spinossisima is an embryo that had been removed from an egg case collected in very deepwater off Panama. Interestingly, a pair of egg cases also collected off Panama, in very deepwater, by Garman (1899) in some aspects appears to fit the description of this species. Unfortunately, the egg case for the holotype of B. spinossisima and Garman’s egg cases have been lost. Material examined : CAS 25617, egg case with embryo present, Mulberry Seamount, 78 km west of Point Montara, central California (37.2630 N, ­ 123.2842 W), 1400 to 2000 m, 8 February 1950. : Published as part of Ebert, David A. & Davis, Chante D., 2007, Descriptions of skate egg cases (Chondrichthyes: Rajiformes: Rajoidei) from the eastern North Pacific, pp. 1-18 in Zootaxa 1393 on pages 8-9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.175296 : {"references": ["Beebe, W. & Tee-Van, J. (1941) Eastern Pacific expeditions of the New York Zoological Society. XXVIII. Fishes from the tropical eastern Pacific. Part 3. Rays, mantas, and chimaeras. Zoologica, 26, 245 - 280.", "Follett, W. I. (1952) Annotated list of fishes obtained by the California Academy of Sciences during six cruises of the U. S. S. Mulberry conducted by the United States Navy off central California in 1949 and 1950. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 27 (16), 399 - 432.", "Cox, K. W. (1963) Egg cases of some elasmobranchs and a cyclostome from Californian waters. California Fish & Game, 49, 271 - 289.", "Eschmeyer, W. N., Herald, E. S., & Hammond, H. (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., Field Guide (28), 336 pp.", "Ebert, D. A. (2003) The sharks, rays and chimaeras of California. University California Press, 284 pp.", "Ebert, D. A. (2005) Reproductive biology of skates, Bathyraja (Ishiyama), along the eastern Bering Sea continental slope. Journal of Fish Biology, 66, 618 - 649.", "Miller, D. J. & Lea, R. N. (1972) Guide to the coastal marine fishes of California. California Fish & Game, Fish Bulletin, 157, 235 pp.", "Garman, S. (1899) Reports on an exploration off the west coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and off the Galapagos Islands, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer \" Albatross, \" during 1891, Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., Commanding. XXVI. The Fishes. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 24, 20 - 44."]}