Atlantoraja cyclophora
Bottom skate from the southeastern and southern coast of Brazil, threatened in the country. Capture is prohibited in Brazil: if you hook it by accident, release it right away.
Also called: raia-de-círculos, raia, emplastro, raya de círculos, eyespot skate
The ring-patterned skate is a skate of the family Arhynchobatidae, with a flattened body and pectoral fins that form a disc. It reaches 78.9 cm and lives on the shelf bottom, down to 150 m deep, from Cabo Frio, in Rio de Janeiro, to Argentina. It is oviparous: the eggs have horn-like projections on the shell. Sexual maturity occurs at about 54 cm. It appears in commercial fishing and is on the national list of threatened species as vulnerable, with capture prohibited in Brazil.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the eyespot skate; in the meantime, see the similar species.
Skate with a round, flattened disc, thin tail separated from the disc, and mouth on the underside. The back has circular markings, like eyes, which give the Spanish name (raya de círculos). It shares the southeastern and southern coast with the saint skate (Rioraja agassizii), which is smaller and has a smooth back, and with the emplastro skate (Sympterygia acuta), which has a larger snout.
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Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
Essential profile: the index uses a general fish model (weather, sun, moon and tide), without a season or time of day specific to this species.
Southwestern Atlantic, from Cabo Frio, in Rio de Janeiro, to Argentina. In Brazil it lives on the southeastern and southern coast.
Habitat: Shelf bottom, down to 150 meters deep.
coast
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: On the national list of threatened species as VU. Global IUCN assessment: EN.
The national list (Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026) classifies the species as VU. Under Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.666/2026 (art. 3º), VU, EN and CR species have full protection: catch, transport, storage, processing and sale are banned. If you hook one by accident, release it at once, handling it as little as possible.
Source: Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.666/2026, art. 3º, and Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026
Threatened species with capture prohibited in Brazil. If it comes on the line, keep the skate in the water whenever you can, remove the hook with long-nose pliers or cut the line close and release it right away. Avoid lifting it by the tail and watch the spines on the back and tail.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00562, b = 3.03; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
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