#fellowshipofthedeep

Did you catch these cuties in our latest Deep Relaxocean video?

This black roughtail skate (Bathyraja trachura) is just one of the amazing animals featured in our latest episode. Skates are related to sharks. They have a distinct, flattened body, and they swim and glide using a pair of large, wing-like fins.

We often encounter skates resting on the sediment like this. Along with their expanded, muscular pectoral fins, some skates use their pelvic fins to maneuver while hunting along the bottom or to propel themselves off the seafloor when danger approaches.