Skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. More than 150 species have been described, in 17 genera. Softnose skates and pygmy skates were previously treated as subfamilies of Rajidae, but are now considered as distinct families. Alternatively, the name "skate" is used to refer to the entire order of Rajiformes.
Bathyraja is a large genus of skates in the family Arhynchobatidae.
Dipturus is a large genus of skates native to the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. They were formerly included in Raja. Some species initially moved to Dipturus were later placed in Dentiraja, Spiniraja, and Zearaja.
Notoraja is a genus of skates in the family Arhynchobatidae. They are found in deep water in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
Gurgesiella is a genus of fish in the family Gurgesiellidae. These relatively small deep-water skates are found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans off South and Central America.
Neoraja is a genus of fish in the family Rajidae found in the Atlantic Ocean. These small, deep-water skates all reach a total length of approximately 30 centimetres (12 in).
Rajella is a genus of skate found deeper than 150 m (490 ft) in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Rostroraja is a genus of skate belonging to the family Rajidae, native to the Atlantic Ocean and East Pacific, including the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California. The genus was considered monotypic in the past, but a number of species usually classified in Raja have been reassigned to this genus based on genetic analysis.
Arhynchobatidae is a family of skates whose members are 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 placed in the same family as hardnose skates, but most recent authors recognize them as a distinct family. Members of the Arhynchobatidae can be distinguished from hardnose skates in having a soft and flexible snout, as well as a more or less reduced rostrum.
Springeria is a genus of cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Anacanthobatidae, the smooth skates. The two species in this genus are found in the central Western Atlantic.
Cruriraja is a genus of skates in the family Gurgesiellidae. They are primarily found in the warm West Atlantic and off southern Africa, but C. andamanica is from the Indian Ocean.
Fenestraja is a genus of eight species of skate in the family Gurgesiellidae. They are found in deeper waters of the western Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.
Okamejei is a genus of small skates in the family Rajidae from the central and western Indo-Pacific, and the north-western Pacific Ocean.
Dipturus teevani, commonly known as the prickly brown ray or Caribbean skate, is a species of cartilaginous fish in the family Rajidae. The prickly brown ray is medium in size compared to other skates, and is known from a patchy, deep-water distribution in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Sinobatis is a genus of rays in the family Anacanthobatidae native to deep water in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Pygmy skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. Nineteen species in three genera are known.
The Melbourne skate is a species of fish in the belonging to the skate family Rajidae. It is the only species in the genus Spiniraja. It is endemic to southern Australia. Its natural habitat is open seas. It is found at depths up to 345 meters.
The sandy ray or sandy skate is a species of ray in the family Rajidae.
Bigelow's ray, also called the chocolate skate or Bigelow's skate, is a species of skate in the family Rajidae. It is named in honour of the oceanographer Henry Bryant Bigelow.
