Updated 8 Sept. 2023
PDF version (with illustrations and additional information)

Arctoraja Ishiyama 1958 arcto-, from árktos (Gr. ἄρκτος) north, referring to distribution of A. smirnovi and A. parmifera in the northern North Pacific and adjacent seas; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate [treated as a subgenus of Bathyraja by some workers]

Arctoraja parmifera (Bean 1881) pármē (Gr. πάρμη), a light shield or buckler; -fera (L.), having or bearing, allusion not explained, probably referring to median row of large spines on back and tail

Arctoraja sexoculata (Misawa, Orlov, Orlova, Gordeev & Ishihara 2020) sex (L.), six; oculata (L.), eyed or having eyes, referring to six white blotches (ocelli) on dorsal disc

Arctoraja simoterus (Ishiyama 1967) simus (L.), flat- or pug-nosed, terus, possibly from teres (L.), rubbed off, rounded or smooth, presumably referring to its snout “broad and remarkably blunt at the tip”

Arctoraja smirnovi (Soldatov & Pavlenko 1915) in honor of “Mr. Smirnov,” Inspector of Fishes, who collected fishes from the Sea of Okhotsk

Arhynchobatis Waite 1909 a– (Gr. ἀ), negative prefix, e.g., without; rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, referring to “absence of a cartilaginous rostral”; batís (Gr. βατίς), a flat fish, usually applied to a skate or ray

Arhynchobatis asperrimus Waite 1909 Latin for very rough, referring to skin on dorsal surface “everywhere covered with closely set spines”

Atlantoraja Menni 1972 Atlanto-, referring to distribution of A. castelnaui and A. cyclophora in southwestern Atlantic Ocean; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Atlantoraja castelnaui (Miranda Ribeiro 1907) in honor of Francis de Laporte de Castelnau (1810–1880), French naturalist who studied the fishes of Brazil

Atlantoraja cyclophora (Regan 1903)  circle-bearing, from kýklos (Gr. κύκλος), ring or circle,  phoreús (Gr. φορεύς), bearer or carrier, referring to ocellus formed by two concentric black circles on each pectoral fin

Atlantoraja platana (Günther 1880) –ana (L.), belonging to: mouth of Río de la Plata (between Uruguay and Argentina), type locality

Bathyraja Ishiyama 1958 bathýs (Gr. βαθύς), deep, referring to deepwater habitat of B. trachouros; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Bathyraja abyssicola (Gilbert 1896) abyssus (L.), from ábyssos (Gr. ἄβυσσος), the deep sea; –cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, referring to deepwater habitat (holotype collected at 2904 m)

Bathyraja aguja (Kendall & Radcliffe 1912) named for Point Aguja, Peru, type locality

Bathyraja albomaculata (Norman 1937) albus (L.), white; maculata (L.), spotted, referring to dorsal surface scattered with small, rounded white spots

Bathyraja aleutica (Gilbert 1896) –ica (L.), belonging to: Aleutians Islands (specifically, Sannak Island), Alaska (USA), type locality

Bathyraja andriashevi Dolganov 1983 in honor of Soviet ichthyologist Anatoly Petrovich Andriashev (1910–2009)

Bathyraja arctowskii (Dollo 1904) in honor of Polish scientist and explorer Henryk Arctowski (1871–1958), oceanographer of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, during which holotype (an egg case) was collected

Bathyraja bergi Dolganov 1983 in honor of the “great” ichthyologist Lev (also Leo) Semyonovich Berg (1876–1950), “who first gave a description of this species” (translations)

Bathyraja brachyurops (Fowler 1910) brachýs (Gr. βραχύς) short; ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye or face (i.e., appearance), replacement name for Raja brachyura Günther 1880 (preoccupied by Raja brachyura Lafont 1873, originally referring to its “remarkably short and stout” tail

Bathyraja chapmani Ebert, Alfaro-Shigueto, Velez-Zuazo, Pajuelo & Mabgel 2022 in honor of Demian Chapman, Senior Scientist & Director, Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium (Sarasota, Florida, USA), for his contributions to shark and ray conservation and research

Bathyraja cousseauae Díaz de Astarloa & Mabragaña 2004 in honor of ichthyologist María Berta Cousseau (Departamento de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina), for her contribution to the marine fishes of Argentina

Bathyraja diplotaenia (Ishiyama 1952) diplo-, from diplóos (Gr. διπλόος), twofold or double; taenia, from tainía (Gr. ταινία), band or ribbon, referring to how ventral fin is divided into “double ribbons” (i.e., deeply notched between anterior and posterior lobes)

Bathyraja eatonii (Günther 1876) in honor of English explorer and naturalist Rev. Alfred Edmund Eaton (1845–1929), who collected holotype

Bathyraja fedorovi Dolganov 1983 in honor of the “well-known” (translation) Soviet ichthyologist Vladimir Vladimirovich Fedorov (1939–2011), who collected holotype

Bathyraja griseocauda (Norman 1937) griseus (Medieval Latin), gray; cauda (L.), tail, referring to grayish-brown color of entire or lower surface of tail

Bathyraja hesperafricana Stehmann 1995 -ana (L.), belonging to: hesperius (L.), western, referring to its West African distribution on the Eastern Central Atlantic slope

Bathyraja interrupta (Gill & Townsend 1897) Latin for broken apart, referring to row of acutely curved, smooth spines along middle of back, extending from interhumeral region to dorsal, but are “interrupted” along posterior half of disc, where spines are “absent or obsolete”

Bathyraja irrasa Hureau & Ozouf-Costaz 1980 Latin for unshaven, referring to its rough, wrinkled appearance

Bathyraja ishiharai Stehmann 2005 in honor of Hajime Ishihara (b. 1950), Stehmann’s “skatology” colleague and friend for more than 25 years, who devoted his life’s research to chondrichthyan fishes, producing important revisions of North Pacific Bathyraja

Bathyraja isotrachys (Günther 1877) ísos (Gr. ἴσος ), equal; trachýs (Gr. τραχύς), jagged or rough, presumably referring to body and tail both covered with “minute asperities, each with a stellate base”

Bathyraja kincaidii (Garman 1908) in honor of Trevor Kincaid (1872–1970), Canadian-America zoologist and oyster farmer, University of Washington (Seattle, USA), “to whom we are indebted for knowledge of [this] species” (he collected holotype)

Bathyraja leucomelanos Iglésias & Lévy-Hartmann 2012 leuco-, from leukós (Gr. λευκός), white; mélanos (Gr. μέλανος), genitive of mélas (μέλας), black, referring to colors of its dorsal and ventral surfaces, respectively

Bathyraja lindbergi Ishiyama & Ishihara 1977 in honor of the late Georgii Ustinovich Lindberg (1894-1976), ichthyologist, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, for his “great work” on western North Pacific zoogeography

Bathyraja longicauda (de Buen 1959) longus (L.), long; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its long caudal region, 52.9% of total length in holotype

Bathyraja maccaini Springer 1971 in honor of American zoologist John C. McCain (b. 1939, note Latinization of “Mc” to “Mac”), who collected holotype from aboard the M/V Hero in 1967

Bathyraja macloviana (Norman 1937) –ana (L.), belonging to: Maclou, Latinization of Malo, source for the historical Spanish (Islas Malvinas) and French (Îles Malouines) names for the Falkland Islands, where this ray occurs

Bathyraja maculata Ishiyama & Ishihara 1977 Latin for spotted, referring to white blotches on dorsal surface

Bathyraja magellanica (Philippi 1902) –ica (L.), belonging to: Straits of Magellan, type locality [possibly the same species as Raja cyanoplax in Rajidae]

Bathyraja mariposa Stevenson, Orr, Hoff & McEachran 2004 Spanish for butterfly, referring to large yellow patches on pectoral fins, which on some specimens approximates the shape of butterfly wings, and on all specimens resemble elaborate shading patterns often seen on butterfly wings

Bathyraja matsubarai (Ishiyama 1952) in honor of ichthyologist Kiyomatsu Matsubara (1907–1968), Imperial Fisheries Institute (Tokyo), who collected one of the paratypes at a fish market, and “to whom the author is much indebted for many favours”

Bathyraja meridionalis Stehmann 1987 Latin for southern, described as the southernmost deepwater species of the genus

Bathyraja microtrachys (Osburn & Nichols 1916) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; trachýs (Gr. τραχύς), jagged or rough, “Upper parts everywhere roughened with fine stellate prickles, these smallest and sparsest on the bases of the pectorals, largest and most closely set on the base of the tail and fine and close set between the eyes”

Bathyraja minispinosa Ishiyama & Ishihara 1977 mini-, from minutus (L.), little or small; spinosa (L.), thorny, referring to fine prickles on dorsal surface, which are smooth to the touch

Bathyraja multispinis (Norman 1937) multi- (L.), many; spinis, fromspinus (L.), thorn, probably referring to median series of 42 spines extending from nuchal region to first dorsal fin

Bathyraja murrayi (Günther 1880) in honor of John Murray (1841–1914), Canadian-born Scottish marine biologist (and later founder of modern oceanography), of the HMS Challenger, from which holotype was collected

Bathyraja notoroensis Ishiyama & Ishihara 1977 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Notoro Peninsula, Sea of Japan, type locality

Bathyraja pacifica Last, Stewart & Séret 2016 –ica (L.), belonging to: western rim of the Pacific Ocean, near where it occurs

Bathyraja pallida (Forster 1967) Latin for pale, referring to “unusually pale” coloration of dorsal surface

Bathyraja panthera Orr, Stevenson, Hoff, Spies & McEachran 2011 Latin for panther or leopard, referring to distinctive dorsal coloration, often characterized by rosettes of black spots surrounding yellow blotches [placed in Arctoraja by some workers]

Bathyraja papilionifera Stehmann 1985 papilio (L.), butterfly; fero (L.), to have or bear, referring to butterfly-shaped dark blotch around anus

Bathyraja peruana McEachran & Miyake 1984 –ana (L.), belonging to: referring to Point Aguja, Peru, type locality

Bathyraja richardsoni (Garrick 1961) in honor of Australian-born zoologist Laurence R. Richardson (1911–1988), Victoria University of Wellington, “for his extensive contribution to deep water research in New Zealand, and especially in Cook Strait” (type locality)

Bathyraja scaphiops (Norman 1937) scaph-[, from scaphium] (L.), cup; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye or face (i.e., appearance), presumably based on its vernacular name, Cuphead Skate, allusion not evident

Bathyraja schroederi (Krefft 1968) in honor of American ichthyologist William C. Schroeder (1895–1977), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Massachusetts, USA), for his “outstanding” (translation) contribution to the study of western Atlantic elasmobranchs

Bathyraja shuntovi Dolganov 1985 in honor of Vyacheslav P. Shuntov (b. 1937), chief scientist of the Pacific Institute of Scientific Fisheries and Oceanography Center (Vladivostok), where Dolganov was working at the time

Bathyraja smithii (Müller & Henle 1841) in honor of Andrew Smith (1797–1872), Scottish military physician, explorer, ethnologist and zoologist, who collected holotype

Bathyraja spinicauda (Jensen 1914) spina (L.), thorn; cauda (L.), tail, referring to erect and “slightly bent backwards” spines along middle of tail

Bathyraja spinosissima (Beebe & Tee-Van 1941) Latin for very spiny, referring to dorsal and ventral surfaces “covered thickly and evenly with small, recurved spines” and tail “covered everywhere with small spines, even over the surface of the dorsal fins”

Bathyraja taranetzi (Dolganov 1983) in honor of Anatoly Yakovlevich Taranetz (1910–1941), “eminent expert” (translation) on fishes of the far-eastern seas of the U.S.S.R. [placed in Rhinoraja by some workers]

Bathyraja trachouros (Ishiyama 1958) trachýs (Gr. τραχύς), jagged or rough; ouros, presumably a variant spelling of ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to 20 “enlarged thorns” along middle of tail [treated as a noun]

Bathyraja trachura (Gilbert 1892) jagged- or rough-tailed, from trachýs (Gr. τραχύς), jagged or rough, and ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to strong spines on middle of tail

Bathyraja tunae Stehmann 2005 in honor of María Cristina Oddone Franco, nicknamed “Tuna,” the “most enthusiastic elasmobranch student” Stehmann has ever met; “The author wishes her luck in her further career, and that all her dreams may come true.”

Bathyraja tzinovskii Dolganov 1983 in honor of oceanographer Vladimir Diodorovich Tzinovskiy (b. 1946, also spelled Tzinovsky), P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (Moscow), who collected holotype

Bathyraja violacea (Suvorov 1935) Latin for violet-colored, referring to lilac-violet hues and dark violet vermiculations on dorsal surface

Brochiraja Last & McEachran 2006 brochus (L.), projecting, referring to projecting thorns on anterior snout; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Brochiraja aenigma Last & McEachran 2006 Latin for enigma, referring to its unresolved taxonomic status (generic placement is provisional since post-juvenile holotype lacks bifurcated thorn on mid-distal rostral cartilage, a diagnostic feature of the genus)

Brochiraja albilabiata Last & McEachran 2006 albus (L.), white; labiatus (L.), lipped, referring to distinctive, white-edged mouth, strongly contrasted against a very dark, beard-like patch beneath the mouth

Brochiraja asperula (Garrick & Paul 1974) diminutive of asper (L.), rough, referring to “meagre development of prickles on the disc”

Brochiraja heuresa Last & Séret 2012 from heúresis (Gr. εὕρεσις), a finding or discovery, based on the ancient Greek Heureka (“I have found it”) or, in modern English, “Eureka,” referring to its being discovered among a collection of skates the authors initially thought represented a different species, B. aenigma

Brochiraja leviveneta Last & McEachran 2006 levis (L.), smooth, referring to “mostly smooth” dorsal surface of disc; veneta (L.), sea-colored or blue, referring to color of dorsal disc

Brochiraja microspinifera Last & McEachran 2006 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, being a dwarfed version of its New Zealand sibling species, B. spinifera

Brochiraja spinifera (Garrick & Paul 1974) spina (L.), thorn; -fera (L.), having or bearing, referring to numerous spines on tail

Brochiraja vittacauda Last & Séret 2012 vitta (L.), ribbon; cauda (L.), tail, referring to unusually broad, ribbon-like lateral skin folds that terminate near tip of tail

Insentiraja Yearsley & Last 1992 in- (L. prefix), i.e., not or un-; sentis (L.), thorn, referring to absence of thorns on tail and middorsal regions of disc; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Insentiraja laxipella (Yearsley & Last 1992) laxus (L.), loose; pellis (L.), skin, referring to flabby integument of ventral surface

Insentiraja subtilispinosa (Stehmann 1989) subtilis (L.), very fine; spinosus (L.), thorny or spinulose, referring to its “extraordinarily fine, velvet-like spinulation” or dermal denticles

Irolita Whitley 1931 etymology not explained, possibly named for Irolita, a fairy tale princess whose beauty was worthy of the world’s admiration

Irolita waitii (McCulloch 1911) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of British-Australian zoologist and museum director Edgar R. Waite (1866–1928), whose works on fishes are frequently cited by McCulloch

Irolita westraliensis Last & Gledhill 2008 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Western Australia, only known area of occurrence

Notoraja Ishiyama 1958 etymology not explained, perhaps nótos (Gr. νότος), south wind (in a broader sense, southern), proposed as a southern subgenus of Breviraja, referring to occurrence of N. tobitukai in “southernmost regions within the seas inhabited by the northern members” of the genus; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Notoraja alisae Séret & Last 2012 in honor of the of research vessel Alis (named for a local wind) of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) in Nouméa, which conducted many exploratory cruises in New Caledonia, and from which holotype was collected

Notoraja azurea McEachran & Last 2008 Latinization of the French azure (blue), referring to striking, metallic-blue dorsal coloration

Notoraja fijiensis Séret & Last 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Fiji Islands, type locality

Notoraja hesperindica Weigmann, Séret & Stehmann 2021 hesperius (L.), western; indicus (L.), of India, the only member of the genus known from the western Indian Ocean

Notoraja hirticauda Last & McEachran 2006 hirtus (L.), hairy, rough or bristly; cauda (L.), tail, referring to dense covering of fine denticles on both surfaces of tail

Notoraja inusitata Séret & Last 2012 Latin for unusual or strange, referring to its “strange” appearance, i.e., head and disc morphology resembling some species of Sinobatis, Bathyraja and Insentiraja

Notoraja lira McEachran & Last 2008 Latin for earth or ridge thrown up by a plow, referring to type locality, the Broken Ridge (southeast Indian Ocean), an elevated plateau thrust upward at the juncture of two continental plates

Notoraja longiventralis Séret & Last 2012 longus (L.), long; ventralis (L.), of the belly, referring to very long anterior lobe of pelvic fin

Notoraja martinezi Concha, Ebert & Long 2016 in honor of Ecuadorian biologist Jimmy Martínez, World Wildlife Fund, who collected and “kindly provided” holotype

Notoraja ochroderma McEachran & Last 1994 ōchrós (Gr. ὠχρός), pale or wan; dérma (Gr. δέρμα), skin, referring to pale-yellow body color

Notoraja sapphira Séret & Last 2009 from sápheiros (Gr. σάπφειρος), sapphire, referring to intense blue dorsal coloration, resembling that of a dark sapphire (gemstone)

Notoraja sereti White, Last & Mana 2017 in honor of Bernard Séret (b. 1949), the “highly respected” French ichthyologist, “who has contributed greatly to the taxonomy of sharks and rays, and in particular to our knowledge of skates of the genus Notoraja”

Notoraja sticta McEachran & Last 2008 from stiktós (Gr. στικτός), spotted or dappled, referring to strong blotched dorsal coloration

Notoraja tobitukai (Hiyama 1940) in honor of T. Tobituka (no other information available), who directed the trawling fishery survey during which holotype was collected

Notoraja yurii Dolganov 2020 in honor of ichthyologist Yuri Nikolayevich Shcherbachev, P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Pavoraja Whitley 1939 pavo (L.), peacock, probably referring to its ornate coloration with small eyespots; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Pavoraja alleni McEachran & Fechhelm 1982 in honor of American-born Australian ichthyologist Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), who furnished the authors with specimens

Pavoraja arenaria Last, Mallick & Yearsley 2008 Latin for sandy, referring to its pale dorsal disc coloration

Pavoraja mosaica Last, Mallick & Yearsley 2008 derived from mosaicus (L.), an inlay of various colors and geometric patterns, referring to its “striking” dorsal coloration

Pavoraja nitida (Günther 1880) Latin for bright, shining or elegant, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its color pattern: light and dark brown with dark brown blotches “ornamented” by small, round yellowish ocelli

Pavoraja pseudonitida Last, Mallick & Yearsley 2008 pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false, although this species may superficially resemble P. nitida, such an appearance is false

Pavoraja umbrosa Last, Mallick & Yearsley 2008 Latin for shady, referring to uniform grayish coloration of dorsal surface of disc

Psammobatis Günther 1870 psámmos (Gr. ψάμμος), sand, referring to Sandy Point, Magellan Strait, Argentina, type locality of P. rudis; batís (Gr.βατίς), a flat fish, usually applied to a skate or ray

Psammobatis bergi Marini 1932 in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Berg (1843–1902), also known as Frederico Guillermo (“Carlos”) Berg, born in Latvia, foremost (“el primor”) ichthyologist specializing in the freshwater and marine fishes of Argentina (type locality)

Psammobatis extenta (Garman 1913) Latin for extended, presumably referring to its long tail, “extended behind the dorsals,” longer and slenderer than tail of Raja (=Leucoraja) erinacea

Psammobatis lentiginosa McEachran 1983 Latin for full of freckles, referring to small spots scattered over dorsal surface of disc and tail

Psammobatis normani McEachran 1983 in honor of English ichthyologist J. R. (John Roxborough) Norman (1898–1944), British Museum (Natural History), who first reported this ray (as P. scobina) in 1937

Psammobatis rudis Günther 1870 Latin for rough, referring to minute spinous tubercles, placed close together, covering all upper parts

Psammobatis rutrum Jordan 1891 Latin for shovel, probably referring to bluntly rounded snout with a short, sharply pointed fleshy tip

Psammobatis scobina (Philippi 1857) Latin for rasp, probably referring to rasp-like quality of small sharp spines on dorsal surface

Pseudoraja Bigelow & Schroeder 1954 pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false, i.e., a false Raja; the authors believed the lack of a dorsal fin and well-developed caudal fin were sufficiently distinct to forbid placement of P. fischeri in Rajidae

Pseudoraja fischeri Bigelow & Schroeder 1954 in honor of zoological artist E. N. Fischer, for the “skillful portrayals of elasmobranchs” featured in many publications by Bigelow and Schroeder

Rhinoraja Ishiyama 1952 rhinós (Gr. ῥινός), genitive of rhís (ῥίς), nose, referring to “peculiar” rostral cartilage that projects forward with slender rod-like bar at tip of snout; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Rhinoraja kujiensis (Tanaka 1916) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kuji, Ibarabi Prefecture, Japan, type locality

Rhinoraja longicauda Ishiyama 1952 longus (L.), long; cauda (L.), tail, referring to pre-dorsal tail length, which is always longer than the disc

Rhinoraja odai Ishiyama 1958 in honor of Mikiji Oda (no other information available), who discovered this species at a Miya fish market, off Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Aichi Province, Japan

Rioraja Whitley 1939 rio, etymology not explained, perhaps referring to its occurrence off the coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate [replacement name for Uraptera Müller & Henle 1837, preoccupied by Uraptera Billberg 1820 in Lepidoptera]

Rioraja agassizii (Müller & Henle 1841) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Swiss-born American zoologist-geologist Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), whose five-volume work on fish fossils (1833–1843), including sharks, is cited many times by Müller & Henle

Sympterygia Müller & Henle 1837 sym (Gr. συμ), together or joined; pterygia, from pterúgion (Gr. πτερύγιον), diminutive of pterýx (πτέρυξ), wing or fin, referring to how pectoral fins of S. bonapartii meet at tip of snout

Sympterygia acuta Garman 1877 Latin for sharp or pointed, referring to acute and greatly produced snout

Sympterygia bonapartii Müller & Henle 1841 patronym not identified but clearly in honor of French biologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857), whose 1834 treatise on the fauna of Italy introduced several new sharks and rays to science and is cited several times by Müller & Henle

Sympterygia brevicaudata (Cope 1877) brevis (L.), short; caudata (L.), tailed, “only one-fifth longer than the claspers”

Sympterygia lima (Poeppig 1835) Latin for file, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to ~10 thorny spines in a single row on short, firm and triangular tail, which can be said to resemble a file (hence the common name Filetail Fanskate)