An egg of the critically endangered flapper skate Dipturus intermedius was successfully incubated to hatching in captivity in what is believed to be a first for the species. Water conditions (temperature, salinity, flow rate) were recorded, with mean water temperatures ranging from a monthly mean of 8.3 ± 1.2 to 13.2 ± 0.3°C and salinity from a monthly mean of 30.5 ± 1.2 to 36.6 ± 2.3 ppt. Hatching occurred after 534 days, suggesting that flapper skate eggs take c. 5700 growing degree-days to incubate to hatching. The egg's prolonged embryonic development raises concerns about flapper skate eggs' vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance.
Keywords: Dipturus intermedius; development; egg; embryo; flapper skate; temperature; time.
© 2021 Crown copyright. Journal of Fish Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Fisheries Society of the British Isles. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.