Updated 19 Sept. 2023
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Amblyraja Malm 1877 amblýs (Gr. ἀμβλύς), blunt, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to relatively blunt snout compared with related skate genera; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Amblyraja doellojuradoi (Pozzi 1935) in honor of Argentine marine biologist Martín Doello-Jurado (1884–1948), Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, for his studies of Argentine hydrobiology

Amblyraja frerichsi (Krefft 1968) in honor of Thomas Frerichs, captain of the research vessel Walther Herwig, from which holotype was collected, for “his keen interest in deep-sea catches, which assured us many precious discoveries” (translation)

Amblyraja georgiana (Norman 1938) –ana (L.), belonging to: South Georgia, southern Atlantic Ocean, type locality

Amblyraja hyperborea (Collett 1879) hypér (Gr. ὑπέρ), very; boréa (Gr. βορέα), north wind (in a broader sense, northern), referring to its distribution in the Arctic Ocean and waters around Canada and northwest Europe (but also occurs in Pacific Ocean and in waters surrounding Antarctica and New Zealand)

Amblyraja jenseni (Bigelow & Schroeder 1950) in honor of Danish zoologist Adolf Severin Jensen (1866–1953), Lund University, for contributions to the ichthyology of the North Atlantic

Amblyraja radiata (Donovan 1808) Latin for rayed or radiated, referring to large spinous plates on body and tail, each with a radiated or stellate base

Amblyraja reversa (Lloyd 1906) Latin for turned back (i.e., reversed), referring to pale coloration on dorsal surface and dark coloration on ventral surface

Amblyraja taaf (Meissner 1987) abbreviation of Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands), a group of volcanic islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, type locality

Beringraja Ishihara, Treloar, Bor, Senou & Jeong 2012 named for the Bering Sea, where B. binoculata and B. pulchra are presumed to have originated since they are allopatrically distributed, one on each side of the sea; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Beringraja binoculata (Girard 1855) bi-, from bis (L.), twice; oculata (L.), eyed, referring to prominent eyespot at base of each pectoral fin

Beringraja pulchra (Liu 1932) Latin for beautiful or lovely, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to Liu’s opinion of its coloration, described as “Prout’s-brown” (i.e., dark olive-brown) above and “Wood-brown” below with two “Burnt Umber” oblong rings (ocelli) on pectorals

Breviraja Bigelow & Schroeder 1948 brevis (L.), short, referring to short tip on rostral process of B. colesi; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Breviraja claramaculata McEachran & Matheson 1985 clarus (L.), clear or bright; maculata (L.), spotted, referring to light-colored spots on dorsal surface

Breviraja colesi Bigelow & Schroeder 1948 patronym not identified, possibly in honor of angler and amateur elasmobranch biologist Russell J. Coles (1865–1928)

Breviraja mouldi McEachran & Matheson 1995 in honor of Brian Mould, University of Nottingham (England), who told the authors that their original (1985) name for this species was preoccupied by Breviraja (=Bathyraja) schroederi Krefft 1968

Breviraja nigriventralis McEachran & Matheson 1985 nigra (L.), black or dark; ventralis (L.), of the belly, referring to uniformly black ventral coloration in life

Breviraja spinosa Bigelow & Schroeder 1950 Latin for thorny, referring to 3–4 irregular rows of large, conspicuous thorns along middle of disc

Caliraja Ebert 2022 Cali-, referring to state of California (USA) and Gulf of California (Baja California, Mexico), the regions where the types of all four recognized species were described; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Caliraja cortezensis (McEachran & Miyake 1988) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California), where it is endemic

Caliraja inornata (Jordan & Gilbert 1881) Latin for unadorned, presumably referring to much smaller prickles (and hence smoother body) compared with much larger prickles of C. rhina

Caliraja rhina (Jordan & Gilbert 1880) according to Jordan & Evermann (1896, Fishes of North and Middle America), name has a double meaning: rhínē (Gr. ῥίνη), rasp, and rhinós (Gr. ῥινός), genitive of rhís (ῥίς), nose, referring to its body prickles, which are largest and most stellate on its very long snout

Caliraja stellulata (Jordan & Gilbert 1880) Latin for starred or starry, referring to numerous star-shaped prickles covering dorsal surface

Dactylobatus Bean & Weed 1909 dáktylos (Gr. δάκτυλος), finger, referring to how 6–7 middle pectoral rays of D. armatus form finger-like processes; batus, from bátos (Gr. βάτος) or batís (βατίς), a flat fish, usually applied to a skate or ray

Dactylobatus armatus Bean & Weed 1909 Latin for armed with a weapon, referring to double row of sharp, hooked spines on ventral surface, a “peculiar armament”

Dactylobatus clarkii (Bigelow & Schroeder 1958) in honor of British marine biologist and explorer Robert S. Clark (1882–1950), for his 1926 revision of European skates and rays

Dentiraja Whitley 1940 dentis, genitive of dens (L.), tooth, proposed as a subgenus of Raja referring to numerous denticles embedded in skin of Raja dentata (=Dentiraja lemprieri)

Dentiraja australis (Macleay 1884) Latin for southern, this being the first time Macleay has encountered a “true” skate (i.e., Raja and its relatives) in Port Jackson, Australia

Dentiraja cerva (Whitley 1939) Latin for doe, allusion not explained, possibly referring to deer-like coloration of female’s dorsal surface, light tan to dark brown with distinct white spots

Dentiraja confusa (Last 2008) Latin for confused, referring to previous confusion with two other Australasian skates, D. cerva and D. nasutus

Dentiraja endeavouri (Last 2008) in honor of the “ill-fated F.I.S. Endeavour, the Federal fisheries survey vessel that was responsible for collecting the first specimens of this species and so many of Australia’s continental shelf fishes in the early 20th century before it along with all hands was lost at sea in 1914”

Dentiraja falloargus (Last 2008) fallo (L.), to cause to fall or to deceive; Argus, mythical hundred-eyed guardian of Io, whose eyes after death were transformed into the feathers of a peacock, referring to vague, eye-like marking on middle of each pectoral fin

Dentiraja flindersi Last & Gledhill 2008 of Flinders, referring to its distribution in the western warm temperate biogeographic region of Australia, otherwise known as the Flindersian Province

Dentiraja healdi (Last, White & Pogonoski 2008) in honor of David Heald, Department of Fisheries Western Australia, who discovered this species off Western Australia in the early 1980s

Dentiraja lemprieri (Richardson 1845) in honor of Deputy Assistant Commissary-General F. J. (actually Thomas James) Lempriere (1796–1852), German-born British public official, diarist and naturalist, “to whose exertions the Ichthyology of Van Diemen’s Land [Tasmania] is much indebted”

Dentiraja oculus (Last 2008) Latin for eye, referring to eye-like marking on each pectoral fin [sometimes incorrectly spelled oculata]

Dentiraja polyommata (Ogilby 1910) polý- (Gr. πολύ), many; ómmata (Gr. ὄμματα), eyes, referring to numerous white-edged spots (ocelli) on dorsal surface

Dipturus Rafinesque 1810 di- (Gr. prefix), from dýo (δύο), two; pt-, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), wing or fin; urus, from ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to two rayed dorsal fins on tail

Dipturus acrobelus Last, White & Pogonoski 2008 from akrobelḗs (Gr. ἀκροβελής), pointed at the end, referring to long, angular snout and somewhat arrow-head shaped body

Dipturus amphispinus Last & Alava 2013 amphí– (Gr. ἁμφί), on both sides or double; spinus, from spina (L.), thorn, referring to two prominent rows of strongly tilted thorns that form a ridge on median disc

Dipturus apricus Last, White & Pogonoski 2008 Latin for exposed to the sun, a “cryptic reference” to its common name, Pale Tropical Skate

Dipturus argentinensis Díaz de Astarloa, Mabragaña, Hanner & Figueroa 2008 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: the Argentine Sea, South Atlantic Ocean, type locality

Dipturus batis (Linnaeus 1758) batís (Gr. βατίς), a flat fish, usually applied to a skate or ray

Dipturus brevicaudatus (Marini 1933) brevis (L.), short; caudatus (L.), tailed, referring to short tail, (2.1–2.7 times in TL), shorter than the similar Raja stabuliforis (=D. laevis)

Dipturus bullisi (Bigelow & Schroeder 1962) in honor of American marine biologist Harvey R. Bullis, Jr. (1924–1992), for providing batoid fishes collected during cruises of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and along the South American coast

Dipturus campbelli (Wallace 1967) in honor of George Gordon Campbell (1893–1977), South African physician and naturalist, “instrumental” in the establishment of the South African Marine Biological Association

Dipturus canutus Last 2008 Latin for gray or ash-colored, referring to its almost uniformly gray dorsal coloration

Dipturus chilensis (Guichenot 1848) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Valparaíso Bay, central Chile, type locality

Dipturus chinensis (Basilewsky 1855) –ensis (L.), suffix denoting place: northern China, “Oriental Sea,” type locality

Dipturus crosnieri (Séret 1989) in honor of French carcinologist Alain Crosnier (1930–2021), who initiated the deep trawling surveys off Madagascar in the 1970s, and who entrusted Séret with his valuable collection of Madagascar skates

Dipturus doutrei (Cadenat 1960) in honor of Michel-Pierre Doutre, French veterinary surgeon, Labaortoire National de l’Élevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, (Dakar, Senegal) and chief fisheries officer for Senegal, off the coast of which this skate occurs [Doutre named a cod after Cadenat, Merluccius polli cadenati, the same year]

Dipturus ecuadoriensis (Beebe & Tee-Van 1941) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: San Helena Bay, Ecuador, type locality

Dipturus garricki (Bigelow & Schroeder 1958) in honor of J. A. F. (Jack) Garrick (1928–2018), New Zealand shark biologist, for his work on the elasmobranchs of New Zealand

Dipturus gigas (Ishiyama 1958) gígas, (Gr. γίγας), giant, being the largest member of a Raja subgenus Ishiyama named Tengujei (now a junior synonym of Dipturus)

Dipturus grahamorum Last 2008 in honor of two unrelated ichthyologists, Alastair Graham (b. 1964), collection manager at CSIRO (Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), and Ken Graham (b. 1947), Fisheries Biologist, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, for their “very important but very different” contributions to the knowledge of Australian sharks and rays [preferably spelled grahamorum since name honors more than one person, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Dipturus gudgeri (Whitley 1940) in honor of American ichthyologist Eugene Willis Gudger (1866-1956), American Museum of Natural History (New York), “in appreciation of his work on fishes and their bibliography”

Dipturus innominatus (Garrick & Paul 1974) in- (L. prefix indicating a negation), e.g., not or un-; nominatus (L.), named, referring to its not having a name even though it had been known since at least 1953

Dipturus intermedius (Parnell 1837) Latin for intermediate, presumably referring to its being intermediate in form between D. batis and D. oxyrinchus

Dipturus johannisdavisi (Alcock 1899) in honor of the “celebrated Elizabethan navigator and explorer John Davis [ca. 1550–1605] who — though best known for his Arctic voyages — piloted three expeditions to the East Indies and lost his life in Indian Seas”

Dipturus kwangtungensis (Chu 1960) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: off the coast of Guangdong (=Kwangtung) Province, China, its type locality in the South China Sea

Dipturus laevis (Mitchill 1818) from levis (L.), smooth, referring to smooth (or relatively smooth) dorsal surface

Dipturus lanceorostratus (Wallace 1967) lanceola (L.), small spear; rostratus (L.), beaked, probably referring to long, acutely pointed snout

Dipturus leptocauda (Krefft & Stehmann 1975) leptós (Gr. λεπτός), thin; cauda (L.), tail, referring to longer and thinner tail compared with shorter and broader tails of some congeners

Dipturus macrocauda (Ishiyama 1955) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; cauda (L.), tail, a possible misnomer since Ishiyama described the tail as short and “stumpy”; perhaps he was referring to the “enormously large” electric organ that makes the middle of the tail thicker

Dipturus maugeanus (Last & Gledhill 2007) –anus (L.), belonging to: Maugean Province, Australian cool temperate biogeographic region where this skate is a keystone species

Dipturus melanospilus Last, White & Pogonoski 2008 mélanos (Gr. μέλανος), genitive of mélas (Gr. μέλας), black; spílos (Gr. σπίλος), mark or spot, referring to distinctive black margin on outer half of the anterior ventral disc in juveniles (less distinct in adults)

Dipturus mennii Gomes & Paragó 2001 in honor of ichthyologist Roberto Carlos Menni, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina), for his contributions to the study of South American rays

Dipturus nasutus (Banks 1841) Latin for large-nosed, referring to its produced snout [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Banks’ manuscript]

Dipturus nidarosiensis (Storm 1881) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nidaros, name of Trondheim during the Middle Ages, referring to Trondheim Fjord, Norway, type locality

Dipturus olseni (Bigelow & Schroeder 1951) in honor of Danish-American ichthyologist Yngve H. Olsen (1905–2000), assistant editor of the authors’ “Fishes of the Western North Atlantic” monographs, for his “excellent editorial work”

Dipturus oregoni (Bigelow & Schroeder 1958) in honor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vessel Oregon, for its fishery explorations of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea

Dipturus oxyrinchus (Linnaeus 1758) oxýs (Gr. ὀξύς), sharp or pointed; rinchus, from rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, referring to its long and sharp snout

Dipturus pullopunctatus (Smith 1964) pullus (L.), dark; punctatus (L.), spotted, referring to small, dark brown to black spots scattered irregularly over dorsal surface

Dipturus queenslandicus Last, White & Pogonoski 2008 –icus (L.), belonging to: Queensland, referring to its regional geographical range

Dipturus springeri (Wallace 1967) in honor of American ichthyologist Stewart Springer (1906–1991), Chief Scientist on Cruise 8 of the International Indian Ocean Expedition (which collected holotype), for his elasmobranch studies

Dipturus stenorhynchus (Wallace 1967) sténos (Gr. στένος), narrow; rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, presumably referring to “long wedge-shaped” snout

Dipturus teevani (Bigelow & Schroeder 1951) in honor of zookeeper John Tee Van (1897–1967), for his “helpful assistance” as editor-in-chief of the authors’ “Fishes of the Western North Atlantic” monographs (he later became Director of both the Bronx Zoo and the Coney Island Aquarium in New York City)

Dipturus tengu (Jordan & Fowler 1903) named for Tengii or Tegu, a comical being in Japanese mythology with a very long nose, which he thrusts into the business of other people, referring to this skate’s greatly produced snout

Dipturus trachyderma (Krefft & Stehmann 1975) trachýs (Gr. τραχύς), rough or jagged; dérma (Gr. δέρμα), skin, referring to very coarse dermal denticles on dorsal and ventral surfaces

Dipturus wengi Séret & Last 2008 in honor of Herman Ting-Chen Weng, Queensland (Australia) fisheries biologist, “who showed an enthusiastic interest in skates and collected the first validated Australian specimens of this species in 1983”

Dipturus wuhanlingi Jeong & Nakabo 2008 in honor of Wu Han-Lin, Shanghai Ocean University (Shanghai, China), for his “great contributions” to Chinese ichthyology

Hongeo Jeong & Nakabo 2009 hong-eo, Korean common name for skates

Hongeo koreanus (Jeong & Nakabo 1997) –anus (L.), belonging to: Pacific waters off South Korea, type locality

Leucoraja Malm 1877 leuco-, from leukós (Gr. λευκός), white, referring to pale color of L. fullonica and L. lintea (=Rajella lintea); raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Leucoraja circularis (Couch 1838) Latin for round, referring to the disc’s “great tendency to circularity” compared with the sympatric Raja (=Dipturus) oxyrinchus, which is broadly rhombic

Leucoraja compagnoi (Stehmann 1995) in honor of American ichthyologist Leonard J. V. Compagno (b. 1943), for his “fundamental contributions to chondrichthyan systematics, mainly on sharks, and his research devoted to South African chondrichthyans”

Leucoraja elaineae Ebert & Leslie 2019 in honor of Elaine Heemstra, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, for her “enormous contributions in illustrating marine fishes, mostly from the Western Indian Ocean” (her husband, ichthyologist Phillip C. Heemstra [1941–2019], collected holotype in 1980)

Leucoraja erinaceus (Mitchill 1825) Latin for hedgehog, referring to how the specimen Mitchill examined, which curled its tail under its body, arched its back and presented its “armature and prickles,” resembled a hedgehog [often misspelled as an adjective, erinacea]

Leucoraja fullonica (Linnaeus 1758) –ica (L. suffix), belonging to: fuller (L. fullo), one who fulls (cleanses, scours and presses) woolen cloth using a tool equipped with iron spikes, referring to this skate’s rough and spiny dorsal surface, like a fuller’s tool

Leucoraja garmani (Whitley 1939) in honor of American ichthyologist-herpetologist Samuel Garman (1843‒1927), Harvard University, who described this skate as Raja ackleyi ornata in 1881but used a preoccupied name (Raia ornata Agassiz 1843 in fossil fishes)

Leucoraja garmani caribbaea (McEachran 1977) named for its Caribbean distribution, from Quintana Roo (Mexico) to Nicaragua [possibly a junior synonym of L. yucatanensis]

Leucoraja garmani virginica (McEachran 1977) –ica (L.), belonging to: Virginia (USA), referring to its distribution largely off the coast of Virginia, from Cape Hatteras (North Carolina) to Nantucket Shoals (Massachusetts)

Leucoraja lentiginosa (Bigelow & Schroeder 1951) Latin for full of freckles, referring to dense, small, dark, light brown and whitish spots on dorsal surface

Leucoraja leucosticta (Stehmann 1971) leuco-, from leukós (Gr. λευκός), white; sticta, from stiktós (Gr. στικτός ), spotted or tattooed, referring to relatively indistinct pale blotching on upper disc in contrast to clearly defined, small circular white spots in symmetric pattern of L. circularis

Leucoraja melitensis (Clark 1926) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Melite, ancient Greek name for Malta, type locality

Leucoraja naevus (Müller & Henle 1841) Latin for mark or spot, probably referring to large black eye-spot in middle of each pectoral fin

Leucoraja ocellata (Mitchill 1815) Latin for having little eyes (ocelli), referring to large white ocellus usually (but not always) near posterior angle of each pectoral fin

Leucoraja pristispina Last, Stehmann & Séret 2008 pristis, from príō (Gr. πρίω) or prízō (πρίζω), to saw, or from prístēs (πρίστης), sawyer (authors say it means, simply, saw, i.e., Sawback Skate); spina (L.), thorn, referring to rows of thorns along midline of disc and tail

Leucoraja wallacei (Hulley 1970) in honor of John H. Wallace (ca. 1921–ca. 1986), Oceanographic Research Institute (Durban), who reported this species as Raja (now Rajella) barnardi in 1967 (Wallace’s 1967 study of east coast South African rajiform fishes is a companion to Hulley’s study covering the west and south coasts)

Leucoraja yucatanensis (Bigelow & Schroeder 1950) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: off the northeastern slope of Yucatán, Mexico, type locality

Malacoraja Stehmann 1970 malaco-, from malakós (Gr. μαλακός), soft, referring to dense, velvet-like covering of fine dermal denticles on upper surface of Raja mollis (=Malaoraja spinacidermis); raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Malacoraja kreffti (Stehmann 1978) in honor of German ichthyologist Gerhard Krefft (1912–1993), Institut für Seefischerei (Hamburg), for his numerous publications on zoogeography and taxonomy of cartilaginous fishes (particularly the Rajidae) and Atlantic meso- and bathypelagic bony fishes; for his leadership of the Ichthyology Group of the Institute of Sea Fisheries and its extensive scientific fish reference collection; and for his knowledge and encouragement during more than 10 years of collaboration with Stehmann

Malacoraja obscura Carvalho, Gomes & Gadig 2005 Latin for dark or indistinct, referring to subtle nature of differences separating this species from its congeners

Malacoraja senta (Garman 1885) presumably derived from sentis (L.), thorn, briar or bramble, referring to numerous hooked spines of dorsal surface and in front of each eye

Malacoraja spinacidermis (Barnard 1923) spina (L.), thorn; akís (Gr. ἀκίς), point or barb; dérma (Gr. δέρμα), skin, referring to fine, closely-set spinules on entire upper surface of disc and upper and lateral surfaces of tail

Neoraja McEachran & Compagno 1982 néos (Gr. νέος), i.e., a new genus of Raja

Neoraja africana (Stehmann & Séret 1983) –ana (L.), belonging to: Africa, referring to type locality off Central West Africa, which geographically links its presumed congeners in Breviraja from the northeastern and southeastern Atlantic

Neoraja caerulea (Stehmann 1976) Latin for dark blue, referring to blue-purple color of dorsal surface, obvious at first glance in trawl catches and even persistent for a long time after preservation in formalin and ethanol

Neoraja carolinensis McEachran & Stehmann 1984 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Carolinian Province of the Western North Atlantic, type locality

Neoraja iberica Stehmann, Séret, Costa & Baro 2008 –ica (L.), belonging to: Iberian Peninsula of Portugal and Spain

Neoraja stehmanni (Hulley 1972) in honor of German ichthyologist (and specialist in skates and rays) Matthias Stehmann (b. 1943), Institut für Seefischerei (Hamburg)

Okamejei Ishiyama 1958 Okame, Japanese vernacular for a “female with low-nose,” proposed as a subgenus of Raja distinguished in part by a “relatively shorter snout”; jei, Japanese for skate and ray

Okamejei acutispina (Ishiyama 1958) acutus (L.), sharp or pointed; spina (L.), thorn, allusion not explained, presumably referring to its nuchal and/or tail spines

Okamejei arafurensis Last & Gledhill 2008 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Arafura Sea, referring to its distribution from southwest of Scott Reef (Western Australia), north to the Arafura Sea off the Northern Territory

Okamejei boesemani (Ishihara 1987) in honor of Dutch ichthyologist Marinus Boeseman (1916–2006), Leiden University (Netherlands), without whom Ishihara would not have been aware of problems in the systematics of Japanese Raja

Okamejei cairae Last, Fahmi & Ishihara 2010 in honor of Canadian parasitologist Janine Caira (b. 1957), University of Connecticut, who coordinated the collection of important chondrichthyan material in Borneo, including most of the type series of this species, during her “quest” to describe the metazoan parasites of these animals

Okamejei heemstrai (McEachran & Fechhelm 1982) in honor of American-born South African ichthyologist Phillip C. Heemstra (1941–2019), Rhodes University (Grahamstown), who furnished specimens of the new species and for being “extremely cooperative” in supplying the authors with elasmobranch material from South Africa

Okamejei hollandi (Jordan & Richardson 1909) in honor of Jamaican-born American zoologist-paleontologist William J. Holland (1848–1932), Director of the Carnegie Museum, for supporting the authors’ study of Taiwanese fishes

Okamejei kenojei (Bürger 1841) keno-ei, Japanese name for this skate [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Bürger’s description]

Okamejei leptoura Last & Gledhill 2008 leptós (Gr. λεπτός), fine, thin or delicate; ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to its thin, somewhat filamentous tail

Okamejei meerdervoortii (Bleeker 1860) in honor of Johannes Lijdius Catharinus Pompe van Meerdervoort (1829–1908), Dutch physician based in Nagasaki, Japan, who collected fishes for Bleeker

Okamejei mengae Jeong, Nakabo & Wu 2007 in honor of Qing-Wen Meng, President, Shanghai Fisheries College (now Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China), for her “great” contributions to elasmobranch studies in China

Okamejei ornata Weigmann, Stehmann & Thiel 2015 Latin for adorned or decorated (i.e., ornate), referring to dorsal color pattern of dark brown spots encircled with beige pigment and arranged into rosettes

Okamejei panayensis Misawa, Babaran & Motomura 2022 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Panay Island, Philippines, type locality

Okamejei picta Ng, Ho, Joung & Liu 2023 Latin for painted or colored, referring to the densely distributed black spots on the contrasting yellowish-brown dorsal disc

Okamejei schmidti (Ishiyama 1958) patronym not identified, presumably in honor of Soviet ichthyologist Petr Yulievich Schmidt (1872–1949), who identified this skate as Raja fusca (=O. kenojei) in 1931

Orbiraja Last, Weigmann & Dumale 2016 orbis (L.), ring or circle, referring to paired, ring-like pectoral-fin ocelli in all three species; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Orbiraja jensenae (Last & Lim 2010) in honor of cestode parasitologist Kirsten Jensen, University of Kansas (USA), for her field surveys of Bornean fish markets, during which she captured digital images of chondrichthyan specimens for a field guide to the sharks and rays of Borneo

Orbiraja philipi (Lloyd 1906) patronym not identified, nor can identity be inferred based on available information

Orbiraja powelli (Alcock 1898) in honor of Lt. Frederick Thomas Powell (1806–1859) of the Indian Navy, “a colleague, in the old Marine Survey branch of the service, of Captain [Robert] Moresby,” hydrographer, maritime surveyor and draughtsman

Raja Linnaeus 1758 from raia, Latin for ray or skate

Raja asterias Delaroche 1809 asterías (Gr. ἀστερίας), a starred or starry fish or bird, referring to its many small white spots, like stars in a night sky

Raja brachyura Lafont 1873 brachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short; ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to its thick, short tail

Raja clavata Linnaeus 1758 Latin for “furnished with nails,” presumably referring to numerous thorny spines on back

Raja cyanoplax Koerber & Kast 2023    cyano-, from kýanos (Gr. κύανος), dark blue; phláx (Gr. πλάξ), anything flat and broad (e.g., flat land, the ocean surface), in reference to Pampa Azul (Blue Pampa), a public research project launched by Argentina to assert the country’s geopolitical sovereignty claim over maritime territory [provisionally included here; replacement name for Raja magellanica Steindachner 1903, preoccupied by and possibly the same species as Raja (now Bathyraja) magellanica Philippi 1902 in Arhynchobatidae]

Raja herwigi Krefft 1965 eponym not identified, presumably named after research vessel Walther Herwig, from which holotype was collected, and not Walther Herwig (1838–1912), founder of German fisheries science, for whom research vessel was named

Raja karagea Tanaka 1927 from same-karagea, local name for this skate (and for Bathyraja isotrachys) among fishermen of Kesen, Rikuzen Province, Japan

Raja maderensis Lowe 1838 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Madeira, type locality

Raja mauritaniensis White & Fricke 2021 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: off Mauritania, between Cap Blanc and Cap Vert, type locality [replacement name for R. africana Capapé 1977, a junior homonym of Raja africana Bloch & Schneider 1801 (=Urogymnus asperrimus, Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae)]

Raja microocellata Montagu 1818 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; ocellata (L.), having little eyes, referring to its conspicuously small eyes

Raja miraletus Linnaeus 1758 Latinization of the French mirallet, mirror, presumably referring to mirror-like image of eyespots on both sides of pectoral fins

Raja montagui Fowler 1910 in honor of British naturalist George Montagu (1753–1815), who described this species (posthumously) in 1818 but used a preoccupied name, Raja (=Narcine) maculata

Raja ocellifera Regan 1906 ocellus, diminutive of oculus (L.), eye (but here meaning eyespot); -fera (L.), to carry or bear, referring to large, bluish-black white-edged ocellus near middle of each pectoral-fin base

Raja parva Last & Séret 2016 Latin for small, referring to small adult size compared to most congeners

Raja pita Fricke & Al-Hassan 1995 pita, a “tasty Arabian bread” with brown spots, referring to this skate’s pita-like shape and coloration

Raja polystigma Regan 1923 polý– (Gr. πολύ), many; stígma (Gr. στίγμα), spot, referring to numerous black spots on dorsal surface

Raja radula Delaroche 1809 Latin for scraper, referring to coarse spinules covering dorsal surface

Raja straeleni Poll 1951 in honor of Belgian paleontologist-carcinologist Victor van Straelen (1889–1964), Director, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, and president of the non-profit organization (Mbizi) that sponsored expedition that collected holotype; in addition, he accompanied one of the expedition’s trawling cruises trawler off the mouth of the Congo

Raja undulata Lacepède 1802 Latin for wavy, referring to numerous undulating dusky streaks on dorsal surface

Rajella Stehmann 1970 diminutive of Raja, referring to small size of type species R. fyllae

Rajella annandalei (Weber 1913) in honor of British zoologist-anthropologist Thomas Nelson Annandale (1876–1924), Director, Indian Museum (Calcutta)

Rajella barnardi (Norman 1935) in honor of English-born zoologist Keppel Harcourt Barnard (1887–1964), South African Museum; reason not given but likely for his 1925–27 monograph on South African marine fishes, which Norman repeatedly cited, for the loan of rays from the South African Museum, and/or for the “kindly interest” he has shown in Norman’s work

Rajella bathyphila (Holt & Byrne 1908) bathýs (Gr. βαθύς), deep; phila, from phílos (Gr. φίλος), fond of, referring to its deepwater habitat (up to 2050 m)

Rajella bigelowi (Stehmann 1978) in honor of the late Henry B. Bigelow (1879–1967), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who, with William C. Schroeder, wrote numerous standard-setting publications on cartilaginous fishes, especially among the rajid fauna of the Western Atlantic; by resurrecting R. bathyphila, Bigelow and Schroeder provided the first comprehensive description and illustrations of this new species

Rajella caudaspinosa (von Bonde & Swart 1923) cauda (L.), tail; spinosa (L.), thorny, referring to two belts of numerous, minute spines on sides of upper half of tail, and one single row of spines on lower half

Rajella challengeri Last & Stehmann 2008 in honor of the Tasmanian research vessel FRV Challenger, for its contributions to the knowledge of Australian deepwater demersal fishes

Rajella dissimilis (Hulley 1970) Latin for unlike or dissimilar, the only skate in the southern Atlantic with a marked reduction or loss of mid-dorsal thorns from disc to tail

Rajella eisenhardti Long & McCosker 1999 in honor of E. Roy Eisenhardt (b. 1939), Director Emeritus of the California Academy of Sciences, for “generously” assisting the authors and their colleagues

Rajella fuliginea (Bigelow & Schroeder 1954) Latin for sooty or painted black, referring to its “sooty chocolate to nearly black” ventral coloration

Rajella fyllae (Lütken 1887) in honor of Fylla, Danish cruiser from which holotype was collected

Rajella kukujevi (Dolganov 1985) in honor of Russian ichthyologist Efim Izrailevich Kekuev (b. 1947, also spelled Kukujev and Kukuyev), Atlantic Scientific Research Institute of Marine Fisheries & Oceanography (AtlantNIRO)

Rajella leoparda (von Bonde & Swart 1923) modified from leopardus (L.), leopard, referring to numerous dark brown, nearly black spots on tail and disc, the “whole effect [of which] resembles the appearance of a leopard skin”

Rajella lintea (Fries 1838) Latin for “clothed in linen,” referring to pale or gray coloration, said to resemble a linen sail

Rajella nigerrima (de Buen 1960) Latin for very black, referring to dark dorsal surface

Rajella paucispinosa Weigmann, Stehmann & Thiel 2014 paucus (L.), few; spinosus (L.), thorny, referring to small number of thorns on dorsal surface compared with congeners

Rajella purpuriventralis (Bigelow & Schroeder 1962) purpureus (L.), purple; ventralis (L.), of the belly, referring to dark purple-to-black belly

Rajella ravidula (Hulley 1970) presumably a diminutive of ravidus (L.), somewhat gray, referring to pale-gray dorsal surface

Rajella sadowskii (Krefft & Stehmann 1974) in honor of Latvian-born ichthyologist Viktor Sadowski (1909–1990), Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil), whose works have considerably added to the knowledge of southwestern Atlantic elasmobranchs

Rostroraja Hulley 1972 rostrum (L.), snout, referring to produced and elongate snout; raia, Latin for ray or skate

Rostroraja ackleyi (Garman 1881) in honor of Lieut. Seth M. Ackley (1845–1908), United States Navy, “to whose energy and enthusiasm we were indebted for much valuable assistance”

Rostroraja alba (Lacepède 1803) Latin for white, referring to bright-white ventral surface

Rostroraja bahamensis (Bigelow & Schroeder 1965) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: the Bahama Banks, type locality

Rostroraja cervigoni (Bigelow & Schroeder 1964) in honor of Spanish-born Venezuelan ichthyologist Fernando Cervigón Marcos (1930–2017), Estacion de Investigaciones Marinas de Margarita, for the opportunity to describe the Venezuelan specimens

Rostroraja eglanteria (Bosc 1800) -ia (Gr.), adjectival suffix, from Rosa eglantina, the Briar Rose or Eglantine, i.e., Eglantine -like, referring to small but very sharp spines covering dorsal surface

Rostroraja equatorialis (Jordan & Bollman 1890) Latin for equatorial, referring to type locality off west coast of Colombia between Panama and the Galapagos Islands

Rostroraja texana (Chandler 1921) –ana (L.), belonging to: Texas (USA), where type locality (off jetties in Galveston, Gulf of Mexico) is situated

Rostroraja velezi (Chirichigno F. 1973) in honor of Juan Vélez D., Instituto del Mar del Perú, for his dedication to ichthyology and for collaborating with Chirichigno F.

Spiniraja Whitley 1939 spini-, from spina (L.), thorn, referring to how Raja ogilbyi (=S. whitleyi) “differs from true Raja in being very spiny above and below”; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate

Spiniraja whitleyi (Iredale 1938) in honor of British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist Gilbert Percy Whitley (1903–1975), as a replacement name for the preoccupied Raja scabra Ogilby, which Whitley had used in a recent article; “Mr. Whitley’s oversight,” wrote Iredale, “is the more remarkable as he and I pride ourselves that we carefully check all of our references many times, yet even with our meticulousness errors may slip through”