Hardnose Skates
Rajidae
Skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. More than 150 species have been described, in 17 genera. Softnose skates and pygmy skates were previously treated as subfamilies of Rajidae (Arhynchobatinae and Gurgesiellinae), but are now considered as distinct families. Alternatively, the name "skate" is used to refer to the entire order of Rajiformes (families Anacanthobatidae, Arhynchobatidae, Gurgesiellidae and Rajidae).
Members of Rajidae are distinguished by a stiff snout and a rostrum that is not reduced.
18 branches of this family, most-observed first · about 160 known species
Raja
genusRaja
Rough Skates
genusLeucoraja
Rostroraja
genusRostroraja
Beringraja
genusBeringraja
California Skates
genusCaliraja
Amblyraja
genusAmblyraja
Zearaja
genusZearaja
Dipturus
genusDipturus
Spiniraja
genusSpiniraja
Okamejei
genusOkamejei
Rajella
genusRajella
Soft Skates
genusMalacoraja
Dentiraja
genusDentiraja
Orbiraja
genusOrbiraja
Neoraja
genusNeoraja
Lightnose Skates
genusBreviraja
Hongeo
genusHongeo
Dactylobatus
genusDactylobatus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Rajidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 48408.