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Egg capsules of the multispine skate, Bathyraja multispinis: the largest of the genus recorded in South American waters

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Abstract

Egg capsules of the multispine skate, Bathyraja multispinis (Norman, 1937), described here for the first time, are larger (180 mm in length without horns) than those of any Bathyraja species from the South-west Atlantic Ocean (SWA). The capsule’s surface texture is relatively smooth by the presence of woven-like fibres. However, below the fibres, it is rough to the touch by the presence of longitudinal ridges and prickles of different shapes and sizes, ending in two or more digitiform projections. An identification key to all described Bathyraja egg capsules occurring in the SWA from 34° to 55°S is provided.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Altamiranda, D. Altamiranda, and all processing plant personnel of the F.V. El Corsario for allowing us access to samples. We also thank the Ictioparasitología research group (IIMyC) for assistance with the camera and stereoscopic microscope. We want to thank A.M. Carente and V. Goméz for their valuable help in assembling Figure 2. We also thank S. Weigmann for providing us with specific bibliography, and A.M. Orlov for helping in translation of a Reference in Russian. Finally, we thank the journal editors and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped to improve this manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (FONCyT) PICT 2017-0946. JMR and DES were supported by scholarships from CIC and CONICET (Argentina), respectively.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biología de Peces, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), B7602YAL, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Jorge M. Roman, David E. Sabadin, Daniel E. Figueroa & Santiago A. Barbini

  2. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas del Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CIC), La Plata, Argentina

    Jorge M. Roman

  3. Biotaxonomía Morfológica y Molecular de Peces, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), B7602YAL, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Ezequiel Mabragaña

  4. Instituto Nacional de Limnología (INALI), Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL), CONICET, S3001XAI, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Luis O. Lucifora

Authors
  1. Jorge M. Roman
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  2. Ezequiel Mabragaña
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  3. David E. Sabadin
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  4. Luis O. Lucifora
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  5. Daniel E. Figueroa
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  6. Santiago A. Barbini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ezequiel Mabragaña.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

No animal testing was performed during this study. Ethical review and approval was not required for the specimen study because it was based on egg capsules retrieved from uteri of a skate collected by a commercial bottom-trawl vessel.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities.

Data availability

The manuscript has no associated data. All data is included in the manuscript.

Author contribution

JMR, EM, and SAB: conceptualization. JMR and DES: obtained the samples. JMR and EM: generated and analysed the data and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. JMR and DES: prepared the egg capsule figures. All six authors corrected the draft and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Communicated by R. Thiel

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Roman, J.M., Mabragaña, E., Sabadin, D.E. et al. Egg capsules of the multispine skate, Bathyraja multispinis: the largest of the genus recorded in South American waters. Mar. Biodivers. 52, 48 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01293-1

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