There’s a lot of confusion regarding skates and rays, like how do you tell the difference and which is the one you’d rather not step on?

Like sharks, both skates and rays are cartilaginous fish and retain urea in their blood for osmotic balance.

There are five gill slits on the underside of their bodies with both skates and ray having tails.

The skates are from the family Rajidae, and in the Gulf there are close to half a dozen species. They have a shorter, sturdier and more muscular tail than the rays. Skates don’t have a barb at the base of their tail like most rays but they do have several rows of spines similar in shape to thorns. So don’t grab them by the tail.

Most anglers don’t ever meet up with a skate as they are found primarily in deeper waters where they feed on invertebrates. The most common skate is the “Clearnose skate” which is found from shallow water to the continental shelf. It ranges from New England south and around to Texas but is uncommon west of the Mississippi river. Skates lay eggs. Their eggs are thick, usually black, large rectangles, are commonly found on beaches and often called “mermaid purses”.

There are several families of rays in the Gulf with the most commonly known and feared being the stingray (Dasyatidae). The tails of most rays are whiplike and can be longer than the body.

The southern and roughtail stringrays are the most common by far. They don’t get more than 18 inches wide or bigger than a few pounds.

The barb is located near the base of their tail and is a very sharp serrated edged weapon coated in venom. They also have strong jaws that are used to crush crabs, oyster and other shellfish.

Don’t put your fingers in their mouths or you might regret it.

Other families of rays in the Gulf are the butterfly rays (Gymnuridae) — it has a short tail and is rare. Electric rays (Torpedinidae) can give you a nasty little shock but only in local lore has anyone ever died from the experience.

The two electric rays species in the Gulf are the lesser Atlantic ray and the torpedo ray with the lesser Atlantic commonly caught in shrimp trawls and used to clue the new guy in.

The cow ray (Myliobatidae) travels in schools of several hundred and is about two feet wide at most. It’s an inspiring moment to see a large school of cow rays swim under the Gulf State Pier.

The largest is the manta ray (Mobulidae) also called the devilfish. The manta is a very passive animal with no barb and feeds on plankton only.

It can get up to 22 feet from wing tip to wing tip and weigh over a ton. Sometimes, usually at night, they will “fly” up out of the water on a wave and crash down with a bang that can be heard for miles.

Think Global – Act Local!

Dr. “Skip” Lazauski can be seen on the television show “Eco-Bites”, which airs on Mediacom’s channel 14 and Smartel’s channel 4. To reach Dr. Lazauski for questions and comments, send e-mail to IchiOrca@yahoo.com. For more information, see his Web site, drskiponline.com.