A Classification of the Recent Elasmobranchii

? Malacobatis GRATZIANOW 1907 type, Raja mucosa PALLAS (1811) 1831 (sp. dub., probably
clavata)
Raia (Betaraia ) LEIGH-SHARP 1924,Type R. clavata LINN. (Pseudogenus)
NB; Leigh-Sharpe's names are "pseudogenera" and are not intended as formal subgeneric names.
They should be ignored for nomenclatural purposes ( Jordan 1925)
clavata group
R. CLAVATA Linn. 1758 Thornback Ray;"Thorny Maid" ; Roker
R. clavata clavata LINN. 1758 European Thornback Ray
Raia proprie dicta BELON 1553
Raia clavata RONDELET 1554
Raia No. 2 ARTEDI 1738
Raja clavata LINN. 1758 t/l; Oceano Europaeo
? Raja rubus LINN. 1758 (unidentifiable)
Thornback BROOKES 1763
Raja ruber BLOCH 1784 t/l; North Sea off Hamburg.
La Raie Cuvier LACEPEDE 1798
Raja cuvieria BLOCH & SCHNEIDER 1801 tl; Fiquainville ,nr. Valmont, France
Raja aspera RISSO 1810 t/l: Nice, Framce
Raja pontica PALLAS (1811) 1831 t/l: Littoriae Tauriae = S.Coast of Black Sea.
? Raja mucosa PALLAS (1811) 1831 t/l; ? Black Sea
Raja punctata HOLLBERG 1822 (non RISSO 1810)
Raja schultzii MUELLER & HENLE 1841 (part) specimens from Nice, France.
? Malacobatis mucosa GRATZIANOW 1906 (on Pallas 1811)
Range; Northeast Atlantic from off Middle & N. Norway (rarely S. Iceland), south of the Arctic
circle, North Sea, south to Med., Black Sea and adjacent Eastern Atlantic south to Rio de Oro.
Canary Is. Coast from inshore down to 300 m.
The nominal occurrence of R.. c. clavata has not been confirmed within the West African tropics
but may well occur there.
R. clavata maderensis LOWE 1837 Madeira Thornback
Ray
Raja maderensis LOWE 1837 t/l; Madeira
Range; Madeira down to 150 m.; Posssibly Azores. The status of maderensis as a subspecies is not
usually recognised by systematists of this group.
R. clavata rhizacanthus REGAN 1906 Southern Atlantic Thornback
Ray
Raja capensis MUELLER & HENLE 1841 (part) ( non GMELIN 1789 = Narke.)
t/l; Cape of Good Hope, S. Africa.
Raja rhizacanthus REGAN 1906 t/l; Natal, S. Africa
Raja bonaespeiensis FWLR. 1910 (New name for R.. capensis M. & H. 1841, Preoccupied by
R. capensis GMELIN = Narke)
Range; Southern Africa down to 1000 m.;
Southern tip of Madagascar (clavata according to M. Stehmann 1996, personal communication.).
R. (Raja) sp. STEHMANN 1990 Possible subsp. of R. clavata Eastern North Atlantic.
R. clavata is a very variable form which occurs from Norway and Iceland south to just north of the
Northern Tropic. In Southern Africa it occurs from just south of the tropic off Namibia into the SW.
Indian Ocean. Southern tip of Madagascar. It is said to be completely distinct from straeleni.
R. STRAELENI Poll 1951 Biscuit Skate
Raja straeleni POLL 1951 t/l; off West Coast of South Africa.
Raja rouxi CAPAPE 1977 t/l; Guinea Coast ,West Africa
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