Skate Egg Case

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Project Description

Skate Egg Case

Raja spp.

Range/Geographical Distribution: Along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat: Skates live along the bottom of the ocean and lay their egg cases attached to the substrate.

Description: A small black rectangle with a curly horn in each corner.  This egg case comes from a skate, a vertebrate, cartilaginous flat fish common along the coast.

Size: Can reach four inches in length.

Food: The egg case contains yolk for the young fish to feed on and the horns of the case extract oxygen from the water and release waste from the case.

Predators: The leathery case protects the young skate from predators.

Conservation Status: No legal status.

Interesting Facts: Skate egg cases are made of collegen and are sometimes called mermaid’s purses.

On the Coast: Skate egg cases often wash up on Georgia’s beaches but they are usually empty because the young fish has already hatched.

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