Great Skate

Dorsal surface greyish or greyish brown with irregularly spaced white flecks, ventral surface cream or white, occasionally with greyish areas. Disc quadrangular, broader than long. Snout of moderate length, broadly rounded and knob-like at snout tip. Tail short, very depressed, broad; lateral skin folds prominent. A row of 1-5 thorns on nuchal and shoulder region, orbital and malar thorns absent. Alar thorns retractable. Tail with 1-3 rows of thorns, outer rows located near lateral margin.

Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449).

Most abundant in shallow water near shore (Ref. 6871). Found over soft bottom (Ref. 7300, 75154). Recorded to be found at 345 m depth (Ref. 114953). Diet mainly consists of crabs, octopuses and small bony fishes (Ref. 114953). Oviparous (Ref. 50449). Males reaches maturity at ca. 127 cm TL (Ref. 114953). Eggs have horn-like projections on the shell (Ref. 205). Egg cases ca. 22 cm long, hatch size at ca. 20 cm TL (Ref. 114953). Thorny tail can inflict a minor injury (Ref. 6871).

The Melbourne skate (Spiniraja whitleyi) is a species of fish in the belonging to the skate family Rajidae. It is endemic to southern Australia. Its natural habitat is open seas. It is found at depths up to 345 meters.