Australian Thornback Skate

Dentiraja lemprieri

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth3–153 m
Water temperature14–20 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The thornback skate is a species of skate of the family Rajidae. A bottom-dwelling fish, it is endemic to Australia, occurring in relatively shallow waters from near-shore to 170 metres. The thornback skate can grow up to 52 cm long.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Thornback skate”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 10 records
February: 13 records
March: 15 records
April: 18 records
May: 2 records
June: 5 records
July: 7 records
August: 7 records
September: 2 records
October: 2 records
November: 18 records
December: 1 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–153 m · Deepest record: 392.5 m

0–10 m: 9 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 9 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 4 records
110+ m: 11 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–20 °C

12–14 °C: 39 records
14–16 °C: 51 records
16–18 °C: 7 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Australian Thornback Skate, Denticulated Skate, Denticulate Skate, Lamprieres Skate, Large Thornback Skate, Lempriere's Skate, Thornback Skate

Other scientific names: Dipturus lemprieri, Okamejei lemprieri, Raia lemprieri, Raja dentata, Raja lemprieri

Similar species

Longnose Skate
Dentiraja confusa
Common Skate
Dentiraja australis
Hind Skate
Dentiraja cerva
Eye Skate
Dentiraja falloargus
Pygmy Thornback Skate
Dentiraja flindersi
Heald's Skate
Dentiraja healdi

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
167 open-data records from 1942 to 2024.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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