Barn Door Skate Wings

Dipturus laevis

 

Skate wings are mainly the by catch of other fish, including scallops. Unfortunately, they are now on the list of endangered species. The Barn Door Skate is one of the largest Skates, and has a range from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to North Carolina. They live a depth of between 450 – 2460 feet. They feed mainly on scallops, shrimp and crab, which gives the meat a very sweet taste. There has been a practice of using cookie cutters to punch out plugs out of the skate wings to be sold as scallops. They are easily distinguished, as the grain runs horizontally in skate wings and vertically in scallops.

 

Their name comes from the Greek; di, meaning two, and pteryx meaning wing. They like water that is just above freezing to about 68°F. They can reach 5’ in size and weigh as much as 40#. Only the flesh on the wings is used. Skate wing has never gained a great deal of popularity with Americans; thus, much of the catch is sold to pet food manufacturers.

 

Since Skates are rather large, their only predicators, other than Man are sharks (which they are closely related to).

 

When buying Skate, make sure that the flesh does not smell of ammonia.

 

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 Gary's Source:  Boston