Deep Sea Skate

Deep Sea Skate (Bathyraja abyssicola)

A skate swims gently past ROPOS at the base of Axial Seamount, greater than 9000 ft beneath the ocean’s surface. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; ROPOS DIve R1841, V15.

Bathyraja abyssicola, the Deep Sea Skate, also known as the Abyssal Skate, is a relatively rare species of skate found at sites all around the North Pacific Ocean, yet is has been sighted several times at Axial Seamount. This skate grows to be around 1.1 m in length at maturity, and can be found at depths between 0 and 3000 m. It is known to have a diet of mollusks, supplemented with bony fish. It is an egg-layer, with horned, oblong eggs 100 mm long and 65 mm wide.

References:
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/22552
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2636/0
http://eol.org/pages/208497/details

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A skate swims gently past ROPOS at the base of Axial Seamount, greater than 9000 ft beneath the ocean's surface. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; ROPOS DIve R1841, V15.
A skate swims gently past ROPOS at the base of Axial Seamount, greater than 9000 ft beneath the ocean's surface. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; ROPOS DIve R1841, V15.
A Deep Sea Skate slowly swims by at the summit of Axial Seamount, 5000 ft beneath the ocean's surface. A small spider crab sits atop an old lava flow to the left of the skate. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; V13.
A Deep Sea Skate slowly swims by at the summit of Axial Seamount, 5000 ft beneath the ocean's surface. A small spider crab sits atop an old lava flow to the left of the skate. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; V13.