On the presence of the Endangered white skate Rostroraja alba in Sardinian waters


Published: Feb 22, 2021
Keywords:
Eggcase Rajiformes Rajidae morphology Central Western Mediterranean.
MARTINA FRANCESCA MARONGIU
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0582-8865
CRISTINA PORCU
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2649-6502
ANDREA BELLODI
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9017-1692
RITA CANNAS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6627-4053
LAURA CARUGATI
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0921-6911
ALESSANDRO CAU
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4082-7531
ANTONELLO MULAS
PAOLA PESCI
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9066-8076
MARIA CRISTINA FOLLESA
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8320-9974
Abstract

The white skate Rostroraja alba is assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Endangered globally and is now considered rare in the Mediterranean. This species has never been recorded in Sardinian seas (central western Mediterranean), but an empty eggcase was collected on a sandy bottom off the western Sardinia coasts during the MEDiterranean International Trawl Survey (MEDITS) program in 2019. A morphometric and morphological description of the Sardinian eggcase, after a comparison with measurements from other Mediterranean and Atlantic specimens, showed it to be clearly ascribable to Rostroraja alba.

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References
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