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Published 2014
The smaller species in the family Rajidae are rays and the larger ones skates, at least in reference books and for ichthyologists.
In Britain, however, all of these fish are called skate when they are on the fishmonger’s slab.
Species of related but less important families, such as Myliobatidae and Dasyatidae, are always rays; thus ‘eagle ray’, ‘devil ray’, etc.