Leucoraja garmani, Rosette Skate

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ISSN 2307-8235 (online) IUCN 2008: T161419A5419442 Leucoraja garmani, Rosette Skate Assessment by: Gedamke, T. View on www.iucnredlist.org Citation: Gedamke, T. 2009. Leucoraja garmani. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.t161419a5419442. Copyright: 2015 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale, reposting or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holder. For further details see Terms of Use. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London. If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown in this document, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided. THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES

Taxonomy Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Animalia Chordata Chondrichthyes Rajiformes Rajidae Taxon Name: Leucoraja garmani (Whitley, 1939) Synonym(s): Raja garmani Common Name(s): English: Taxonomic Notes: Rosette Skate The genus has changed from Raja to Leucoraja (McEachran and Dunn 1998). This assessment assumes a single species. However, populations north of Cape Hatteras have been considered as the subspecies L. garmani virginica while those between the Cape and the Dry Tortugas have been considered as L. g. garmani, but they may represent two distinct species (McEachran 1977, McEachran 2002). Assessment Information Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1 Year Published: 2009 Date Assessed: December 1, 2008 Justification: This US endemic species is found from Nantucket Shoals to the Dry Tortugas, Florida with the separation of two sub-species at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. There is no directed fishery for the rosette skate and it is caught only as incidental bycatch. The species is found at depths of 33-530 m and is most common between 74-274 m. Survey indices from north of Cape Hatteras have been increasing gradually since 1967. Although catch indices were not available from the southern range of the species there is no reason to believe there is any current threat to the Rosette Skate throughout its range and it is assessed as Least Concern. Geographic Range Range Description: The Rosette Skate occurs from Nantucket Shoals to the Dry Tortugas, Florida (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953a,b; Bullis and Thompson 1965, McEachran and Musick 1975, McEachran 1977, Stehmann and McEachran 1978). In the Straits of Florida it is found on Pourtates Terrace (Staiger 1970). Country Occurrence: Native: United States (Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia) 1

FAO Marine Fishing Areas: Native: Atlantic - northwest, Atlantic - western central 2

Distribution Map 3

Population Historically, Schroeder (1955) reported the Rosette Skate to be fairly abundant from the eastern slope of Georges Bank to Cape Charles, Virginia while Struhsaker (1969) found it to be very abundant along the outer continental shelf from Cape Hatteras to Florida. As mentioned in the taxonomic notes that these reports may actually come from two distinct species. Currently there is very little information on the populations south of Cape Hatteras. However, NEFSC spring and fall groundfish surveys from Cape Hatteras to the northern edge of the rosette skates range have shown an increasing trend in biomass indices since 1967 (Packer et al. 2003, NEFMC 2006). Current Population Trend: Unknown Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information) The Rosette Skate is found on soft substrates, including sand to mud bottoms at depths of 33-530 m and is most common between 74 and 274 m (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b, Bullis and Thompson 1965, Schroeder 1955, Struhsaker 1969, McEachran and Musick 1975). Bigelow and Schroeder (1953b) reported its temperature range as 5.3-15 C. Although some suggestions have been made that the species moves inshore during the summer there is not enough data to evaluate seasonal differences in distribution related to depth and temperature. Size at maturity is reported for males and females combined, at 33.5-43.9 cm TL north of Cape Hatteras (McEachran 1977) and 25.0-31.4cm TL south of Cape Hatteras (McEachran 1977). Maximum observed size is 57 cm TL (Packer et al. 2003). McEachran (1977) reported that maximum size and size at maturity increase with latitude. The major food sources are similar to that of the other western Atlantic skate species being comprised of shrimp (C. septemspinosa), Cancer and galatheoid crabs, amphipods, polychaetes, copepods, cumaceans, squids, octopods, and small fish (Stehmann and McEachran 1978, Bowman et al. 2000). Systems: Marine Threats (see Appendix for additional information) Skates are commonly taken as bycatch in groundfish trawling, scallop dredging and discarded recreational and foreign landings are currently insignificant, at <1% of the total fishery landings. Landings in the USA are not reported by species, with over 99% of the landings reported as "unclassified skates". Skates are retained for the export of skate wings and for utilization as lobster bait. However, wings are taken from Winter Skate and Thorny Skate, whereas bait landings are believed to be primarily from Little Skates. There is no evidence of any directed fishery for the Rosette Skate with incidental bycatch as the primary threat to the species. Conservation Actions There are currently no regulations or conservation actions in place for the Rosette Skate. Rosette Skate is not considered to be overfished (NFSC 2000a, b). Credits Assessor(s): Gedamke, T. 4

Reviewer(s): Dulvy, N.K., Sulikowski, J. & Valenti, S.V. (Shark Red List Authority) 5

Bibliography Bigelow, H.B. and Schroeder, W.C. 1953. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Fisheries Bulletin 54: 1-577. Bigelow, H.B. and Schroeder, W.C. 1953. Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Part 2: sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates and rays. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Bowman, R.E., Stillwell, C.E., Michaels, W.L. and Grosslein, M.D. 2000. Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Technical Memorandom, NMFS-NE 155. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Bullis, H.R., Jr and Thompson, J.R. 1965. Collections by the exploratory fishing vessels Oregon, Silver Bay, Combat, and Pelican made during 1956-1960 in the southwestern North Atlantic. U.S. Special Scientific Report-Fish. US Fish and Wildlife Service. IUCN. 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2009.2). Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 3 November 2009). McEachran, J.D. 1970. Egg capsules and reproductive biology of the skate Raja garmani (Pisces: Rajidae). Copeia 1970: 197-199. McEachran, J.D. 1977. Variation in Raja garmani and the status of Raja lentiginosa (Pisces: Rajidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 27: 423-439. McEachran, J.D. 2002. Skates. Family Rajidae. In: B.B.Collette and G. Klein-MacPhee (eds), Bigelow and Schroeder's fishes of the Gulf of Maine, pp. 60-75. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. McEachran, J.D. and Dunn, K.A. 1998. Phylogenetic analysis of skates, a morphologically conservative clade of elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae). Copeia 1998: 271-290. McEachran, J.D. and Musick, J.A. 1975. Distribution and relative abundance of seven species of skates (Pisces:Rajidae) which occur between Nova Scotia and Cape Hatteras. Fisheries Bulletin 75: 110-136. McEachran J.D. and Notarbartolo di Sciara G. 1995.. Peces Batoideos. In: W. Fischer, F. Krupp, F. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter, and V.H. Niem (eds), Guia FAO para la identificaciòn de especies para los fines de la pesca. Pacifico centro-oriental., pp. 745-792. FAO, Roma. NEFMC (New England Fishery Management Council). 2006. Update on skate stock status using 2006 fall NEFSC fall survey data. 50 water street, MIL 2, Newburyport, MA 01950, USA. NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center). 2000. Report of the 30th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (30th SAW): Public Review Workshop. Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document. NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center). 2000. Report of the 30th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (30th SAW): Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC) consensus summary of assessments. Northeast Fish. Sci. Cent. Ref. Doc. 00-03. Packer, D.B., Zetlin, C.A. and Vitaliano, J.J. 2003. Essential fish habitat source document: Rosette Skate, Leucoraja garmani virginica, life history and habitat characteristics. NOAA Technical Memorandum. U.S. Department of Commerce, Massachusetts, USA. Staiger, J.C. 1970. The distribution of the benthic fishes found below two hundred meters in the Straits of Florida. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Miami. 6

Stehmann, M. and McEachran, J.D. 1978.. Rajidae. In: W. Fischer (ed.). (ed.), In: FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Central Atlantic (Fishing Area 31)., FAO,, Rome. Struhsaker, P. 1969. Demersal fish resources: Composition, distribution, and commercial potential of the Continental Shelf stocks off Southeastern United States. United States Fish and Wildlife Service; Fishery Independent Research. Citation Gedamke, T. 2009. Leucoraja garmani. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.t161419a5419442. Disclaimer To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use. External Resources For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website. 7

Appendix Habitats (http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes) Habitat Season Suitability Major Importance? 9. Marine Neritic -> 9.4. Marine Neritic - Subtidal Sandy - Suitable - 9. Marine Neritic -> 9.5. Marine Neritic - Subtidal Sandy-Mud - Suitable - 9. Marine Neritic -> 9.6. Marine Neritic - Subtidal Muddy - Suitable - Threats (http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes) Threat Timing Scope Severity Impact Score 5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources -> 5.4.3. Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) 5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources -> 5.4.4. Unintentional effects: (large scale) Ongoing - - - Ongoing - - - Stresses: 2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality Additional Data Fields Distribution Lower depth limit (m): 530 Upper depth limit (m): 33 Population Population severely fragmented: No 8

The IUCN Red List Partnership The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London. THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES