Hello again MFKers!
Just now I was thumbing through a random coastal fish fieldguide in the library when I should have been studying and I came across a small skate called the "Underworld Windowskate" (Fenestraja plutonia). I don't know why it has such a wierd name, but it is indeed very small; only about 10.5 inches long according to the book (27cm according to the online source below). This is among the smallest non-stingray batoid I have ever seen and by far the smallest skate.
The smallest skate I have ever heard about up until this point was the "Clearnose Skate" which someone here has for sale once in a while. That guy gets ~3x as long as the Windowskate. According the the source below there are also several other species of windowskate and finger skate which barely reach 1ft in length.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/y4160e/y4160e37.pdf
How do you guys think these would do in captivity? Take size etc? Most/All of them seem like they would do just fine in tropical water, or at the very least don't need an expensive water chiller. Having one of The non-stingray rays [electric, guitar, skate, butterfly] as pets are one of my ultimate dreams for the future. Not that I don't like stingrays, I just find the other ones much more interesting. I stress DISTANT future.
Just now I was thumbing through a random coastal fish fieldguide in the library when I should have been studying and I came across a small skate called the "Underworld Windowskate" (Fenestraja plutonia). I don't know why it has such a wierd name, but it is indeed very small; only about 10.5 inches long according to the book (27cm according to the online source below). This is among the smallest non-stingray batoid I have ever seen and by far the smallest skate.
The smallest skate I have ever heard about up until this point was the "Clearnose Skate" which someone here has for sale once in a while. That guy gets ~3x as long as the Windowskate. According the the source below there are also several other species of windowskate and finger skate which barely reach 1ft in length.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/y4160e/y4160e37.pdf
How do you guys think these would do in captivity? Take size etc? Most/All of them seem like they would do just fine in tropical water, or at the very least don't need an expensive water chiller. Having one of The non-stingray rays [electric, guitar, skate, butterfly] as pets are one of my ultimate dreams for the future. Not that I don't like stingrays, I just find the other ones much more interesting. I stress DISTANT future.
