Longtail skate

Taxobox | name = Longtail skate


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
ordo = Rajiformes
familia = Rajidae
genus = "Arhynchobatis"
species = "A. asperrimus"
binomial = "Arhynchobatis asperrimus"
binomial_authority = Waite, 1909

The longtail skate, "Arhynchobatis asperrimus" is a skate, the only member of the genus "Arhynchobatis", found around New Zealand at depths of from 90 to 1,000 m on the continental shelf. Its length is from 30 to 75 cm. The longtail skate is a medium-sized deepwater ray of rounded shape, with only one dorsal fin and a small but distinct caudal fin. It is similar in shape to the prickly deepsea skate.

The upper surfaces are dark brown and are covered in small prickles.

References

*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8