Head to head
Flapper Skate vs Thornback Ray
Flapper Skate
VS Thornback Ray
The flapper skate and the thornback ray are both rays of British waters, but one has been pushed to the brink of extinction while the other remains familiar.
| Flapper Skate | Thornback Ray | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Dipturus intermedius | Raja clavata |
| Relationship | A large skate, once called the common skate | A medium-sized ray, the commonest ray in many coastal waters |
| Size | More than two metres in length and over a hundred kilograms | Usually 60 to 85 cm long, though larger fish occur |
| Appearance | Olive-grey to brown above with pale spots, a long pointed snout, and pale below with grey blotches | Brown to grey with pale blotches, with a back and tail studded with prickly thorns |
| Reproduction | Grows slowly, matures late, and lays relatively few large egg cases | Lays tough, rectangular egg cases with a horn at each corner, which wash ashore as mermaid's purses |
| Diet | Fish such as flatfish and haddock, along with crabs, lobsters, and other seabed animals | Crabs, shrimps, worms, and small fish on the sand and mud of the sea bed |
| Range | Now mainly in western Scotland and Ireland, particularly the sea lochs and inshore waters | Sandy and muddy sea beds of the north-eastern Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean |
| Conservation status | Critically Endangered, eliminated from much of its former range by trawling and netting | Near Threatened, with numbers reduced in parts of its range |
Flapper Skate vs Thornback Ray: common questions
Which one is bigger?
The flapper skate, which reaches more than two metres and over a hundred kilograms, while the thornback is usually 60 to 85 cm.
Why was the flapper skate once called the common skate?
It was once treated as a single species with the blue skate under that name, until scientists showed it was two species.
Which one is more threatened?
The flapper skate, which is Critically Endangered, whereas the thornback ray is Near Threatened.