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Twineye Skate

Raja miraletus

A small sandy-bottom skate of the Cape shelf, marked by a blue-ringed eyespot on each wing.

Also known as brown skate, twin-eye skate, twineye

Twineye Skate
Photo: Xavier Mas · CC BY 4.0
Typical size
Commonly 30-45 cm
Habitat
Sandy and muddy shelf bottoms
Depth
Roughly 20-300 m

The twineye skate is a small, diamond-shaped skate, brown to sandy above with a conspicuous eyespot ringed in blue on each pectoral wing, giving the impression of a second pair of eyes. Its underside is pale, and like all skates it lays leathery egg cases rather than bearing live young.

Around South Africa it lives over sandy and muddy bottoms of the continental shelf, especially off the Western and Eastern Cape, where it lies partly buried and feeds on small crabs, prawns and fish. Usually encountered as trawl or line bycatch rather than by divers, it is harmless, having no venomous sting.