The blonde ray or blonde skate (''Raja brachyura'') is a species of

ray fish Batomorphi is a division of cartilaginous fishes, commonly known as rays, this taxon is also known as the superorder Batoidea, but the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies it as the division Batomorphi. They and their close relativ ...

in the family Rajidae. Raia brachyura 1871

Distribution

The blonde ray lives in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, at depths of 10–380 m. It is found occasionally in the Mediterranean Sea as well. Blonde rays look like what you would expect from their name. Light brown with a few creamy-white blotches and dense dark spots which extend up to the very edge of the disc and on the tail

Description

Like all rays, the blonde ray has a flattened body with broad, wing-like

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s. The body is kite-shaped with a short tail (hence the specific name ''brachyura'', from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words meaning "short tail").They are found anywhere from the western isles of Scotland to Morocco and can be found in the northern and western Mediterranean. Maximum length is .

Habitat

Blonde rays are considered bottom dwelling species that like more sandy and muddy areas. As with many elasmobranch species, shallow coastal waters are used as nursery areas leading to a greater number of rays found near shore being juveniles.

Diet

The diet of a blond ray consist of cephalopods, small bony fish and shrimp''.

Crangon crangon ''Crangon crangon'' is a species of caridean shrimp found across the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from the White Sea in the north of Russia to the coast of Morocco, including the Baltic Sea, and appears also throughout the Med ...

'' are a common prey in the rays diet. Both juvenile and adult rays feed on indiscriminate

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

s and

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

Life cycle

Oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

, with embryos feeding only on

yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...

. Blonde rays reaches sexual maturity at 85–92 cm in length, which corresponds to ~8–10 years of age. The females tend to lay their eggs during the months of February and August and will lay a

clutch size A clutch of eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for example the California condor b ...

of around 40–140 eggs.

Maturity phases

The blonde ray matures in stages. These stages for males include juvenile, adolescent, adult mature and adult running. For females, the stages are different due to female rays laying eggs. The maturity phases for female rays include juvenile, adolescent, adult developing, adult mature, adult laying and adult resting. In males, claspers are the rays’ pelvic fins and are located on the inner margin of the pelvic fins. They are used to transport sperm into the female ray. As male rays age and go into different maturity levels, their claspers along with reproductive organs; like the testes; develop further until they hit the maturity phase of adult running. Average lifespan for a blonde ray average around 15 years. For female rays, we see the maturity of the ovaries. Like development in males with the claspers, the ovaries of the female will develop as the ray gets older and will stop maturing once the ray finishes laying eggs and reaches adulting resting phase where egg production decreases. Many ''R. brachyura'' tend to be around 92 cm in length at maturity and around the age of 10. Egg/year tend to be around 40–90 at this maturity age and length.

Human use

Blonde rays are currently fished for human consumption, with a record weight of recorded in

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

, Ireland in 2008. Skates ( Rajidae) are often considered vulnerable to overfishing because they are long-lived, slow-growing, late to mature and produce few young, which, coupled with their generally large size, morphology, and aggregating nature, renders them susceptible to capture in many fisheries. With this, growing patterns and age of maturation phases are impacted. While most exploited commercial fish’s population decreases, the aggregated landings of rays, although variable, have remained relatively stable over the past 60 years. However, human impact still affects the blond ray. These rays tend to be sought after for hunting usage. Along with being a trophy fish, they are also fished for food and are a popular dish in the UK. Due to them being commonly found in shallower water, it is easier for them to be caught. As a results, juveniles can be fished before they have had a chance to breed.

Genetic disorders

Genetic disorders like

leucism Leucism () is a wide variety of conditions that result in partial loss of pigmentation in an animal—causing white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes. It is occasionally spelled ''le ...

and

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

are found to affect blonde rays. Leucism tends to cause the blonde rays to go from their normal brownish appearance with darker spots to white with black spots and tend to be smaller than normal. In albinism, we see a predominately white dorsal side with little to no spots and eye color change. No physical damages or disease was shown to be increased in blonde rays with these genetic disorders.

References

External links

*
Fishbase Database: ''Raja brachyura''
{{DEFAULTSORT:ray, blonde blonde ray Fish of the East Atlantic Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish of the North Sea Near threatened biota of Africa Near threatened biota of Europe blonde ray