Batoid fishes are among the most endangered marine vertebrates, yet conservation efforts have been confounded by incomplete taxonomy. Evidence suggest that the critically endangered ‘common skate’ actually represents two species: the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) and the blue skate (Dipturus batis). However, knowledge of the geographic range of these two nominal species is limited. Here, DNA sequencing is used to distinguish these species, allowing their spatial distributions to be clarified. These records were also used as the basis for species distribution modelling, providing the first broad scale models for each species across the Northeast Atlantic. Samples were obtained from Iceland, the UK (specifically Shetland), the North Sea and the Azores. Results suggest that D. batis was commonly distributed in the Western Approaches and Celtic Sea, extending out to Rockall and Iceland. D. intermedius generally appears to be less abundant, but was most frequent around northern Scotland and Ireland, including the northern North Sea, and was also present in Portugal. Two individuals were also identified from seamounts in remote areas of the Atlantic around the Azores, the furthest south and west the species has been found. This supports reports that the flapper skate historically had a much wider distribution (which was also highlighted in the distribution model), emphasising the large scale over which fisheries may have led to extirpations. Furthermore, these Azorean samples shared a unique control region haplotype, highlighting the importance of seamounts in preserving genetic diversity.

Batoid 鱼是最濒危的海洋脊椎动物之一，但保护工作因分类学不完整而受阻。有证据表明，极度濒危的“普通溜冰鞋”实际上代表了两个物种：挡板溜冰鞋（Dipturus intermedius）和蓝溜冰鞋（Dipturus batis）。然而，对这两个名义物种的地理范围的了解是有限的。在这里，DNA 测序用于区分这些物种，从而阐明它们的空间分布。这些记录也被用作物种分布建模的基础，为整个东北大西洋的每个物种提供第一个大尺度模型。样品来自冰岛、英国（特别是设得兰群岛）、北海和亚速尔群岛。结果表明D. batis普遍分布于西途径和凯尔特海，延伸至罗科尔和冰岛。D. 中间体通常似乎较少，但最常见于苏格兰北部和爱尔兰，包括北海北部，葡萄牙也有。在亚速尔群岛周围大西洋偏远地区的海山中也发现了两个个体，这是该物种被发现的最南和最西端。这支持了有关挡板冰鞋历史上分布范围更广的报告（这也在分布模型中突出显示），强调了渔业可能导致灭绝的大规模。此外，这些亚速尔群岛样本共享一个独特的控制区域单倍型，突出了海山在保护遗传多样性方面的重要性。