Marine biologists identify new species of skate Leucolaja It lurks in the deep waters of the southwestern Indian Ocean.
brown long nose skates (Leucolaya longirostris), holotype of an adult male viewed from the dorsal side. Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: Weigman others., doi: 10.3390/biology13060405.
members of the genus Leucolaja A small to medium sized skate, usually with a short, obtuse snout.
To date, 14 valid species of this genus have been identified, primarily in the Atlantic Ocean, but also in the Indian Ocean.
“The 14 species currently described are Leucolaja It reaches a maximum size of 30-120 cm and is found in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. ” Dr Simon Weigman by the Leibniz Institute for Biodiversity Change Analysis and colleagues.
“Of these 12 species, Leucolaja Compagnoi and Leucolaja wallasei They also live outside the Atlantic Ocean, in continental waters in the southwestern Indian Ocean. ”
The newly discovered Leucolaja This species is the fourth known species of this genus from the western Indian Ocean.
named Leucolaya longirostris (common name is Brown Longnose Skate), apparently endemic to the Madagascar Ridge in Walters Shoals.
“In the 1970s and 1980s, researchers working on the Madagascar Ridge, a raised area of the ocean floor in the southwestern Indian Ocean, collected a total of eight rare skate specimens at depths of 750 to 1,050 meters.” biologists said.
“Despite the long snout, this specimen could definitely be assigned to the genus. Leucolaja This is due to the typical characteristics of claspers. ”
“It can be easily distinguished from all 14 congeners by its long, sharply pointed snout,” the researchers said.
“Furthermore, it appears to occur only on the Madagascar Ridge, away from the known distribution areas of all congeners, and its clasper morphology exhibits several unique aspects.”
brown long nose skates (Leucolaya longirostris), holotype of an adult male viewed from the ventral side. Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: Weigman others., doi: 10.3390/biology13060405.
Leucolaya longirostris These are medium-sized skates with a total length of 71.1 cm or more.
Males mature at about 60 cm. The largest known female is 70cm long. The smallest known specimen is a young female with a total length of 27.6 cm.
recognition of Leucolaya longirostris Provide new insights into morphological variation within the genus Leucolaja “This constitutes a very unusual and noteworthy addition to this genus Sketchi,” the researchers said.
“Nevertheless, the very limited distribution of this new species raises concerns about its ability to sustain fisheries, and it may be susceptible to capture in longline fisheries, particularly deep-sea trawl fisheries.”
“Although little information is available about fisheries operating in the region of the Madagascar Ridge, this deep-sea skate tolerates intensive fishing pressure, potentially due to its slow-life history characteristics and low productivity. You may not be able to.”
“Walter's Shoal has had good catches in the past and this pressure may return in the future,” they added.
“As a fishery targeting orange roughy (Hoplostessus atlanticus) and Kinmedai (Belix Decactylus) have typically used mesophoric trawls on the ocean floor, but new species may have benthic refugia. ”
“However, further research is needed to investigate its distribution, life history, population size and trends, and threats.”
“This is essential to improving data collection and research and making more effective conservation and management policy decisions.”
a paper Report findings published in journals biology.
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Simon Weigman others. 2024. Description of a noteworthy new type of skate shoe Leucolaja Malm of the southwestern Indian Ocean, 1877 (Radidae, Radidae): Introducing 3D modeling as an innovative tool for visualization of clasper characters. biology 13 (6): 405;doi: 10.3390/Biology 13060405
Source: www.sci.news
