MOVEMENT AND BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS OF CRITICALLY ENDANGERED COMMON SKATE

Understanding animal distributions and habitat utilisation is vital for the management of populations, especially those of endangered species. However, this information is not available for the majority of marine species and is difficult to obtain for those with low population densities. The common skate, Dipturus batis, was once abundant and widespread in the North-East Atlantic but is now thought to be locally extinct in the Irish Sea and in the central and southern North Sea, and is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. However, ‘refugial’ populations are still found in a small number of locations, including the west coast of Scotland. In an attempt to improve our understanding of the behaviour and ecology of this endangered species we have begun to tag individuals from the Scottish west coast population with electronic data storage tags. Regular recapture of individuals has provided high rates of tag return, but indicates that individuals do not appear to move long distances over short to mid-term time scales (months).

This research has important implications concerning the conservation management of this species, and also provides data on how the largest batoid species in Europe structures movements to find sufficient prey.

People involved: Dr Viki Wearmouth, Professor David Sims (MBA).

Funding: NERC Oceans 2025, The Leverhulme Trust.