noun

• Any of various skates (family Rajidae), having small dark spots or small projecting thorns with star-shaped bases scattered over the upper surface, especially Amblyraja radiata.

  The terms skate and ray have often been used interchangeably; in modern usage, skates belong to the order Rajiformes and rays to the orders Myliobatiformes, Torpediniformes, and Pristiformes.