Seamount egg-laying grounds of the deep-water skate Bathyraja richardsoni

Highly localized concentrations of elasmobranch egg capsules of the deep-water skate Bathyraja richardsoni were discovered during the first remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey of the Hebrides Terrace Seamount in the Rockall Trough, north-east Atlantic Ocean. Conductivity–temperature–depth profiling indicated that the eggs were bathed in a specific environmental niche of well-oxygenated waters between 4·20 and 4·55° C, and salinity 34·95–35·06, on a coarse to fine-grained sandy seabed on the seamount's eastern flank, whereas a second type of egg capsule (possibly belonging to the skate Dipturus sp.) was recorded exclusively amongst the reef-building stony coral Solenosmilia variabilis. The depths of both egg-laying habitats (1489–1580 m) provide a de facto refuge from fisheries mortality for younger life stages of these skates.

Keyword(s)

deep sea, elasmobranch, environment, habitat, reproduction

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Henry L. -A., Stehmann M. F. W., de Clippele L., Findlay H. S., Golding N., Roberts J. M. (2016). Seamount egg-laying grounds of the deep-water skate Bathyraja richardsoni. Journal Of Fish Biology. 89 (2). 1473-1481. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13041, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00344/45508/

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