WHEN YOU
LOOK
Western Bluebird
SKATE EGG CASES
Jocelyn "JJ" Maxwell
When you look at these skate egg cases, you see community.
What is a skate?
Skates are fish. Skates are morphologically similar to a stingray; a long tail, wide “wings” on the side of the body, a flat shape, and eyes on the top of their heads. Skates reproduce by egg cases, also known as a mermaid’s purse; a leathery pouch that surrounds the embryo laid by these animals. Specific skate species have different “hotspots” for reproduction, called nurseries. For example, the Alaskan skate, a predominantly Asian species, has a dedicated spawning ground near the Gamov peninsula on the Eastern edge of Russia. Researchers trawled this area for thirty minutes and estimated that the density of eggs in this area was around 190,000 egg cases per square kilometer; a massive amount! In addition, they found that this nursery area had both new and old, as well as decaying, egg cases, proving that this spawning ground has been utilized by the Alaskan skate for a long period of time. Another team of researchers investigated a two-species nursery ground of Mud and Okhotsk skates near the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia. Not only did they conclude that this site had been utilized for years by these species, but they also found that there were substantial amounts of skates here as well: one trawl recorded 6044 mud skates and 28599 Okhotsk skates per square kilometer.
A fine-spined skate being examined.
Jenny Hanivers: A Basis for Myth
Skates have the potential to become a basis for folklore. Had these egg cases been allowed to develop to maturity, they could have developed into something folkloric, like the generations that came before them had. Most modern folktales of the seas come from three main factors: an unusual creature, poor visibility, and exhaustion. Anything that wasn’t a fish was translated as some sort of mythological creature. Skates could have been part of this. However, the far more likely scenario comes from the manipulation of these unusual creatures into a jenny haniver as proof of mythological creatures. Jenny hanivers are rays or skates that have been modified and mummified to represent mythological creatures. Some of the earliest zoological textbooks from the 16th and 17th centuries include dragons, basilisks, and mermaids that were made from these jenny hanivers. Two examples of mermaids are the legends of the monkfish and the bishop fish. The monkfish was described as a fish with a man’s head that wailed out cries of distress in a Norwegian village, and the bishop fish was described as fish clothed like a bishop and having a pontifical miter on his head. Research indicates that jenny hanivers or angel sharks were likely the basis for these legends. In addition, basilisks and dragons were supported by jenny hanivers; the cutting, snipping, and manipulation of a skate’s body can create a convincing picture of these creatures. Jenny hanivers provided the “proof” for a lot of popular myths that we see today.
A drawing of a dragon made from a jenny haniver, as well as a photo of a real-life jenny haniver.
Connection Through Mythology and Folklore
Sea-based folklore is a great connector among societies. Sea creatures appear to be a cultural universal: something that every culture has. Eastern Asia, India, Africa, Greece, Scandinavia, and Native Americans all have their own folklore tales related to the ocean. Research seems to indicate that these ideas gained traction in the East and then spread through Europe, with the possibility of northern Europe having its own developmental timeline and independent mythos.
Because of this community that skates create to reproduce, we are able to create our own communities based around this folkloric quality that skates provide through jenny hanivers and the unknown. Without skates, we lose the ability and evidence to discuss these mythological ideas for what they are: a group of people’s attempts to explain something that they don’t know. And these myths are not a thing of the ancient world; people report seeing mermaids, dragons, and other mythological creatures to this day. Even outside of the sea, things such as aliens, yetis, vampires, and other myths are still very much in the collective consciousness and connection. If we did not have or lose skates in the future due to climate change related issues, such as increasing ocean temperatures, pollution, and ocean acidification, we would be left without the basis for mythology. We are left with one less piece that can tie us together. When you look at a skate, you see community; not just the communal breeding that these species take part in, but the community of humans that rally around the unknown and attempt to explain it through what they do know, giving rise to the fantastic myths that interweave our lives and communities into that shared tapestry of mythology and folklore.
The egg skate cases specimen from the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History.