Bathyraja

Last, Peter R., Stewart, Andrew L. & Séret, Bernard, 2016, A new temperate deepwater skate of the genus Bathyraja (Rajoidei: Arhynchobatidae) from the South-West Pacific, Zootaxa 4132 (1), pp. 107-117 : 115

Key to Bathyraja of the Tasman Sea (modified from Stewart & Last, 2015)

1. Body massive and only moderately depressed; dorsal surface dark brown, densely covered with fine denticles at all sizes; ventral surface dark with white patch at base of tail; mouth large, width about equal to preoral length; interorbital width> 7% TL............................................................ Bathyraja richardsoni (N Atlantic and SW Pacific)

- Body relatively thin and very strongly depressed; dorsal surface almost uniformly white, greyish or pale brown, lacking denticles (except in juveniles, and then denticles sparse); ventral surface often pale; mouth small, width much less than preoral length; interorbital width <5.5% TL...................................................................... 2

2. Horizontal eye length more than ¾ interorbital width; snout very long in adults, length> 6 times interorbital width in all but small juveniles; nasal curtain width 8% or less of TL.......................... Bathyraja shuntovi ( New Zealand seas)

- Horizontal eye length much less than ¾ (usually barely more than ½) interorbital width; snout long in adults, length ~4 times interorbital width; nasal curtain width ~9% of TL............................ Bathyraja pacifica sp. nov. (Tasman Sea)