One of MLSSA’s Facebook followers has been finding hardnose skate egg casings along the beaches from Goolwa to Bashams beach and then uploading photos and data to iNaturalist. They would like to learn how to tell the difference between Hardnose skate and Thornback skate eggs to better identify what they find. They would also like to find more general background information on what types of skates live in these areas (the beaches from Goolwa to Bashams beach). After the area being hit so hard with the Toxic Algal Bloom of 2025, they are hopeful that the egg casings that they are finding which are in good condition might suggest that the species is doing OK. In the month of March up to the last week, they had found over 40 skate eggs on those beaches.
They later told us, “Back in February I first noticed some egg casings and iNaturalist identified them as Carpet shark, and Hardnose skate. A later upload was called a Thornback skate. I’ve also found Catshark egg casings and the Elephant Fish egg casings, all between Goolwa to Bashams. I’m just trying to learn more on how to ID each species, especially the skate. It’s all very fascinating. Add(ed) to this, there was a Pygmy Thornback Skate spotted last year near Edithburgh Jetty* during the time the Toxic Algae Bloom was there. Seems that (it) was the first sighting of one in SA.”
* (See my report on David Muirhead’s sighting on our blog at An Unusual Skate Photographed at Edithburgh Jetty – Marine Life Society of South Australia Inc.)
It has been suggested that they contact Michelle Treloar who is an export on skates. They will pass on any information that they get from Michelle.