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Leucoraja circularis (Couch, 1838)

Sandy ray
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Leucoraja circularis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Leucoraja circularis (Sandy ray)
Leucoraja circularis
Picture by FAO

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Rajiformes (Skates and rays) > Rajidae (Skates)
Etymology: Leucoraja: Greek, leykos = white + Latin, raja = a fish, Raja sp. (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 10 - 800 m (Ref. 106604). Temperate; 67°N - 27°N, 25°W - 37°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic (Iceland, southern Norway, Skagerrak and Morocco) and the Mediterranean Sea. Records as far south to Mauritania and Senegal could not be verified due to lacking descriptions and specimens; most are probably misidentifications of Leucoraja leucosticta.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4426); 117.0 cm TL (female); common length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4426)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Snout short, its tip somewhat pronounced; upper surface entirely spinulose, about 8 thorns generally in a complete row around inner margin of eye and a triangle of thorns on nape or shoulder region; underside with prickles only on snout, between gill-slits, along abdomen, and at anterior margins of disc; tail only slightly longer than body; upper surface reddish-brown to dark brown with 4-6 creamy spots on each wing, underside white (Ref. 3167).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in offshore shelf waters and on upper slope, mainly around the 100 m line (Ref. 3167). Depth range from 70-275 m (Ref. 03167), and from 463-676 m in eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Feed on all kinds of bottom animals (Ref. 3167). Oviparous. Distinct pairing with embrace. Young may tend to follow large objects, such as their mother (Ref. 205). Eggs are oblong capsules with stiff pointed horns at the corners deposited in sandy or muddy flats (Ref. 205). Egg capsules are 8.3-9.2 cm long and 4.6-5.3 cm wide (Ref. 41303, 41251, 41311). Maximum length for female is 117 cm (Ref. 41333).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449). With no definite egg laying period (Ref. 3167). Distinct pairing with embrace. Young may tend to follow large objects, such as their mother (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

McEachran, J.D. and K.A. Dunn, 1998. Phylogenetic analysis of skates, a morphologically conservative clade of elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae). Copeia 1998(2):271-290. (Ref. 27314)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (A2bcd); Date assessed: 30 October 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7.5 - 14.2, mean 11.3 °C (based on 116 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00269 (0.00165 - 0.00438), b=3.20 (3.06 - 3.34), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.37 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (72 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 4.74 [0.63, 82.48] mg/100g; Iron = 0.236 [0.022, 2.817] mg/100g; Protein = 15.9 [13.8, 17.8] %; Omega3 = 0.712 [0.315, 1.677] g/100g; Selenium = 17.7 [3.6, 87.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 4.71 [0.36, 55.36] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.34 [0.02, 3.76] mg/100g (wet weight);