Biodiversity & Conservation

Common Skate - Dipturus batis - General information

Dipturus batis

Image Davy Holt - Dipturus batis. Image width ca 150 cm.
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Distribution map

Dipturus batis recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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  • UK_BAP
  • OSPAR

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Ken Neal, Paolo Pizzolla and Catherine Wilding Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Chordata Sea squirts, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals
Class Elasmobranchii Sharks, rays and skates
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Populations of Dipturus batis are found off the coasts of Isles of Scilly, western British Channel, west and north Ireland and west Scotland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information The skate lives on sandy and muddy bottoms. The adults live in depths of 10 to 600 m while younger specimens prefer shallower waters.
Text page icon Description A large ray with a long pointed snout. Males growing up to 2 m in length, while females may reach up to 3 m in length. The leading edge of the wings is slightly concave and the small dorsal fins near the tip of the tail almost touch. The young have large thorns near the eyes and one row of thorns along the back of the tail, while older specimens lack the thorns near the eyes but have two rows of along the tail. The upper (dorsal) side is brownish-green with lighter spots and the underside dark grey, sometimes with black stripes, spots or marbling. Immature skate under 40lb in weight are jet black underneath which fades to grey as they get larger (Davy Holt, pers. comm.).

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal, Paolo Pizzolla and Catherine Wilding 2008. Dipturus batis. Common Skate. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 04/02/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3183>