The La Plata skate (''Atlantoraja platana'') is a species of fish in the family

Arhynchobatidae Arhynchobatidae is a family of skates and is commonly known as the softnose skates. It belongs to the order Rajiformes in the superorder Batoidea of rays. At least 104 species have been described, in 13 genera. Softnose skates have at times been ...

. It lives off the coast of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in depths ranging from 19 to 181 meters. Its total length is about 60 centimeters. Males reach maturity when 86% of total length which means about 47 to 53 centimeters. Females attain maturity at 94% of total length, 45 to 50 centimeters. It is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

, lays oblong egg capsules with horned corners. Feeds small fish,

penaeid Penaeidae is a family of marine crustaceans in the suborder Dendrobranchiata, which are often referred to as penaeid shrimp or penaeid prawns. The Penaeidae contain many species of economic importance, such as the tiger prawn, whiteleg shrimp, ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

and cephalopods. It is relative rare with population trend decreasing, major threat being

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, although it is mainly a

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

References

* * Pollom, R., Barreto, R., Charvet, P., Chiaramonte, G.E., Cuevas, J.M., Faria, V., Herman, K., Montealegre-Quijano, S., Motta, F., Paesch, L. & Rincon, G. 2020.
Atlantoraja platana
Downloaded on 16 January 2021. * * Fish described in 1880 Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Rajiformes-stub