Bathyraja maculata, the white-blotched skate, is a species of skate from the western North Pacific Ocean. An adult is approximately 1 meter in length, and is found at depths of up to 1 kilometer.[1] Unlike any other known member of the genus Bathyraja, the white-blotched skate has white blotches on a grey to brown dorsal surface, while the ventral side is lighter in color with darker blotches. Dorsal side is rough with spines, while the ventral side is smooth.[2]
The white-blotched skate is well established to inhabit waters in the Northern Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk and Aleutian Islands. It was the most commonly caught skate in a NOAA bottom-trawl survey of the Aleutian Islands in 2006.[3] Initially thought to inhabit only the western margin of the Gulf of Alaska, trawl surveys have now found specimens along the eastern margin as well.[4]