Distribution, relative abundance, and biology of the deep-water dusky-purple skate Bathyraja matsubarai (Arhynchobatidae)
Orlov, A.M.; Volvenko, I.V.; Grigorov, I.V. (2025). Distribution, relative abundance, and biology of the deep-water dusky-purple skate Bathyraja matsubarai (Arhynchobatidae). J. Ichthyol. Online first. https://dx.doi.org/10.1134/s0032945225600089
In: Journal of Ichthyology. Nauka Interperiodica/Springer: Silver Spring, Md. ISSN 0032-9452; e-ISSN 1555-6425, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Orlov, A.M.
- Volvenko, I.V.
- Grigorov, I.V.
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| Abstract |
Our extensive research spanning five decades (1980–2022) investigated the spatial and depth distributions, catch rate dynamics, and basic biological characteristics of the understudied deep-water dusky-purple skate Bathyraja matsubarai, a species endemic to the northwestern Pacific. This analysis was based on the results of Russian bottom trawl surveys and supplemented by the data gathered from publicly accessible databases of several Japanese ichthyological collections. We identified regions with the densest aggregations of dusky-purple skates, particularly in the Sea of Okhotsk (excluding the northern part), the western Bering Sea, and in the Pacific waters off southeastern Kamchatka and the central and northern Kuril Islands. Typically, this species was most abundant in these areas at depths between 500 and 700 m. Its individual total length spanning from 17 to 135 cm, with the majority between 40 and 90 cm. Average body size of males was 2.3 cm larger, and the average body weight was 0.12 kg greater than that of females. Condition factor values peaked during the autumn-winter period. Over the years, significant increases in the catch rates were observed in most parts of the range. In these areas, the catch rates initially declined from the 1980s to the early 1990s (for the western Bering Sea) and the 2000s (for the Pacific waters off the eastern Kamchatka, Kuril Islands, and Japan), before increasing in recent years. |
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