The Anacanthobatidae, the smooth skates or leg skates, are a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
skates found at depths below in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
They lack the dorsal
denticles (sharp, tooth-like scales) of other rays, hence their name, from
Greek ''an-'' meaning "without", ''acantha'' meaning "thorn", and ''bathys'' meaning "deep".
They are bottom-dwelling fishes found on the
continental slopes of
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
and
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...
waters.
Genera
Anacanthobatidae contains the following genera:
References
Anacanthobatidae
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