Round Skate

Irolita waitii

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth54–201 m
Water temperature16–28 °C
Best monthsFebruary and July
How commonRare

About this species

Irolita is a genus of softnose skates in the family Arhynchobatidae, commonly known as round skates. There are two species, both endemic to Australia, found over soft bottoms on the outer continental shelves and upper continental slopes, at depths of 50–200 m for the southern round skate and 142–209 m for the western round skate. The distributions of the two species do not overlap.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Irolita”, 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: 3 records
February: 5 records
March: 1 records
April: 4 records
May: 0 records
June: 0 records
July: 8 records
August: 4 records
September: 0 records
October: 3 records
November: 1 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 54–201 m · Deepest record: 215 m

30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 1 records
130–140 m: 3 records
140+ m: 12 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–28 °C

14–16 °C: 4 records
16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 9 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 7 records

Names and classification

English: Round Skate, Southern Round Skate

Other scientific names: Irolita waitei, Psammobatis waitii, Raja waitii

Similar species

Western Round Skate
Irolita westraliensis
Longnose Deep-sea Skate
Bathyraja shuntovi
Prickly Deepsea Skate
Brochiraja asperula
Prickly deep-sea skate
Brochiraja spinifera
Deepwater skate
Bathyraja richardsoni
Longtailed Skate
Arhynchobatis asperrimus

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).
49 open-data records from 1909 to 2006.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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