Raja brachyura, Blonde ray : fisheries, gamefish

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Raja brachyura Lafont, 1873

Blonde ray
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Raja brachyura   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Raja brachyura (Blonde ray)
Raja brachyura
Picture by Bergmann, M.

United Kingdom country information

Common names: Morgath felen
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: fairly common (chances are about 50%) | Ref: Ellis, J.R., A. Cruz-Martinez, B.D. Rackham and S.I. Rodgers, 2005
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Common in the inshore waters (14-146 m) off southern and western England, with maximum catch rates of 72 ind./hr in the Bristol Channel and St George's Channel. Caught infrequently in the North Sea and Celtic Sea. Juveniles were caught infrequently, although they were recorded in the Bristol Channel, Cardigan Bay and Irish Sea, and off Poole and in Start Bay within the English Channel (Ref. 82399).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Wheeler, A., 1992
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Raie lisse, Raya boca de rosa, شِفنين بحري مَلْسَة, ... more

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: Raja: Latin, raja, -ae = a sting ray (Raja sp.) (Ref. 45335).

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

Marine; demersal; depth range 10 - 380 m (Ref. 6808). Temperate; 60°N - 22°N, 18°W - 24°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: Shetland Islands to Morocco, Rio de Oro (Western Sahara), and Madeira.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 90.2, range 60 - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 41333); 125.0 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 14.3 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Upper surface wholly prickly, except in juveniles; underside only prickly along front margins of disc; orbital thorns separate; a regular median row of 40-45 thorns in juveniles and adult females, interrupted on back in males; 60-90 tooth rows; upper surface ochre, with numerous small dark spots to margins of disc, underside white (Ref. 3167).
Body shape (shape guide): other; Cross section: flattened.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found on sand and sand-rock bottoms (Ref. 6808). Feed on all kinds of benthic 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 10.0-14.3 cm long and 5.8-9.0 cm wide (Ref. 41250). About 40-90 eggs are laid per individual every year (Ref. 41250).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449). Spawning mainly from February to August with at least 30 egg-cases laid (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: Version 2025-1)

  Near Threatened (NT) (A2bd); Date assessed: 15 April 2023

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

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

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Internet sources

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

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7.1 - 16.2, mean 10.3 °C (based on 462 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00224 (0.00144 - 0.00348), b=3.27 (3.15 - 3.39), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.61 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.12-0.19; tmax=15; Fec=40).
Prior r = 0.20, 95% CL = 0.13 - 0.30, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (65 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (61 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 4.69 [0.73, 84.95] mg/100g; Iron = 0.26 [0.02, 2.99] mg/100g; Protein = 16.7 [13.9, 19.0] %; Omega3 = 0.869 [0.349, 2.113] g/100g; Selenium = 14.8 [3.0, 71.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 7.7 [0.6, 90.3] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.31 [0.02, 3.43] mg/100g (wet weight);