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The taxonomy of the enigmatic dark-mouth skate, Bathyraja arctowskii (Dollo, 1904), from the Southern Ocean was finally resolved after more than 100 years of ambiguity in 2021. This species is the smallest known species of the species-rich deep-water skate genus Bathyraja Ishiyama, 1958, which attains a total length of only about 61 cm and appears to be a wide-ranging and locally common species in the Southern Ocean. It differs from its congeners in the small adult size, dark-pigmented mouth cavity and underside of nasal curtain, lack of thorns on upper disc, as well as small and slender egg cases. Although the identity of this species was unambiguously clarified, the syntype egg cases could not be examined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This examination has now become possible, and detailed data of the syntypes are provided in the present paper for the first time, together with hitherto unknown details of tooth, dermal denticle and thorn morphology. Furthermore, a lectotype and two paralectotypes are designated from the syntypes. Full article

Based on the analysis of long-term data from bottom trawl surveys (1977–2021), changes in the spatial distribution, position of the boundaries of the ranges and the catch rates of the nine most common deep-sea skates of the genus Bathyraja in the Russian waters of the Northwestern Pacific (B. violacea, B. aleutica, B. matsubarai, B. maculata, B. bergi, B. taranetzi, B. minispinosa, B. interrupta, and B. isotrachys) are considered. During the surveyed period, significant changes in the spatial distribution were observed, which are probably due to both subjective reasons (changes in the number of trawling stations, surveyed depths, etc.) and climatic changes. No monotonous displacement of the northern or southern boundaries of the range or its center in one direction was observed in any area of any species during the entire observation period. At the same time, shifts in the boundaries of the ranges of different species in different areas occurred for different decades, i.e., the boundaries of the ranges slowly fluctuated or “pulsed” near some average annual position. In general, from the 1970s to the 1980s, the number of skates grew; from the 1980s to the 1990s, it decreased; from the 1990s to the 2000s, it fluctuated at the achieved level; from the 2000s to the 2010s, it grew again; and from the 2010s to the 2020s, it decreased again. These trends coincide with previously identified ecosystem rearrangements under the influence of climatic and oceanological changes. The identification of links between changes in spatial distribution, range boundaries and catch rates with climatic and oceanological factors require separate additional studies. Full article