Notoraja sapphira sp. nov. (Rajoidei: Arhynchobatidae), a new deepwater skate from the slopes of the Norfolk Ridge (South-West Pacific)

摘要

A new arhynchobatid skate of the genus Notoraja is described from five specimens collected on the slopes of the Norfolk Ridge between 1195 and 1313 m depth. The new species is distinct from its sibling species from southern Australian waters, the BlueSkate (N. azurea), by its smaller size, several morphometric and meristic characters, thorn pattern and dorsal and ventral coloration. The arhynchobatid genus Notoraja Ishiyama, 1958 was resurrected by Stehmann (1989) for a new species N. subtilispinosa(now assigned to the genus Insentiraja) from the Philippines and the type species N. tobitukai (Hiyama, 1940). Presently, the genus comprises six species: N. tobitukai from Japan, N. ochroderma McEachran & Last, 1994 from northeastern Australia, N. hirticauda Last & McEachran, 2006 from Western Australia, and three new species decsribed by McEachran & Last in 2008, N. azurea from southern Australia, N. lira from the southeastern Indian Ocean, and N. sticta from the Great Australian Bight. Other species, once described or assigned to the genus Notoraja, have been recently re-assigned to the genera Brochiraja and Insentiraja (Compagno et al., 2005, Last & McEachran 2006, McEachran & Last, 2008): I. subtilispinosa (Stehmann, 1989), 7. laxipella (Yearsley& Last, 1992), B. asperula (Garrick & Paul, 1974), and B. spinifera (Garrick & Paul, 1974).