Molecular and morphological evidence of the occurrence of the Norwegian skate Dipturus nidarosiensis (Storm, 1881) in the Mediterranean Sea

• Published in: Marine Biology Research
• Main Authors: Cannas, Rita, Cristina Follesa, Maria, Cabiddu, Serenella, Porcu, Cristina, Salvadori, Susanna, Iglésias, Samuel, Paco, Maria Deiana, Anna, Cau, Angelo
• Other Authors: Station de Biologie Marine de Concarneau, Direction générale déléguée à la Recherche, à l’Expertise, à la Valorisation et à l’Enseignement-Formation (DGD.REVE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: 16SrDNA; COI; control region; Dipturus nidarosiensis; Mediterranean Sea; [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity; Norwegian skate
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00541320; https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000903428496

International audience Fourteen specimens of the Norwegian skate, Dipturus nidarosiensis (Rajiformes, Rajidae), were caught off the Sardinian coasts (Central Western Mediterranean Sea) in 2005-2008 between 600 and 1420 m of depth. Their identification has been confirmed by the sequencing of three regions of the mtDNA (16SrDNA, control region and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) and comparison of the obtained sequences with that of three species of Dipturus (D. batis, D. oxyrinchus and D. nidarosiensis) from the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent North-eastern Atlantic Ocean. A simple PCR-RFLP assay has been developed for an easy, reliable and robust identification of these skate species. A morphological comparison of the Norwegian skate with congeneric species is given in order to help future identifications. This is the first record ofD. nidarosiensis in the Mediterranean Sea; the possibility of recent or ancient but unnoticed occurrence of the Norwegian skate in the region is discussed