Thornbacks—Family Platyrhinidae — Thornback Ray
A thornback from the Crystal Pier in San Diego.
A thornback from the Crystal Pier in San Diego.
Species: Platyrhinoidis triseriata (Jordan & Gilbert, 1880); from the Greek words platys (flat and broad), rhin (shark with a rough skin), oid (like) and is (similar), and the Latin words tri (three) and seriat (rows, in reference to the three rows of spines on the back).
Alternate Names: Thornback, Shovelnose shark, pinback ray, prickleback shark, banjo shark, round skate, and my favorite—throw-‘em-backs. Called guitarra diablo or guitarra espinuda in Mexico.
The eye of a thornback
Identification: Large rounded disk; long stout tail with two large dorsal fins and a caudal fin, and three rows of spines on back and tail characterize the thornback ray. Their coloring is brown, gray brown, or olive brown above, and white or cream below.
Size: To three feet (35.8 inches) and nearly 6 pounds. Most caught from piers are less than 24 inches.
Grandson Adam and his first thornbak — at the Avila Pier
Range: Gulf of California to Tomales Bay, California. Once considered uncommon north of Monterey Bay but increasing numbers have been showing up in the San Francisco Bay Area since about 2010.
Habitat: Common to sandy-beach areas of southern California, especially sandy areas below kelp. Their main food is worms, clams, crabs and shrimp but they'll eat almost anything they can find on the bottom. Surf zone down to 449 feet.
A thornback taken at the Kids Derby at the Shelter Island Pier
Piers: Probably the most common ray caught from southern California piers; most often caught just outside the surf area. Best Bets: Crystal Pier, Oceanside Pier, Newport Pier, Seal Beach Pier, Redondo Beach Pier, Stearns Wharf, Goleta Pier and the Avila Pier.
Shoreline: A frequent catch of southern California shore anglers fishing near sand.
Boats: Few are taken by boaters.
An unusual double hookup
Bait and Tackle: Medium tackle with size 4 to 2/0 hooks. Almost any bait will work but squid and anchovies seem to catch the most thornbacks.
A thornback from the Robert Wooley Pier in San Francisco Bay
Food Value: Virtually none do to its size. Although a European thornback ray, Raja clavata, is considered perhaps the best tasting of all rays and skates, California’s thornback ray is not in the same class due to its size. In fact, because of its small size, you should let them go. As uber fshery biologist Milton Love says in his book “Probably More Than You Want To Know About Ther Fishes of the Pacific Coast”, “they are certainly not a danger to anything larger than a sand crab So here’s a thought. If you catch one, instead of stomping or stabbing it and letting it die on the deck, why don’t you give it a big kiss and release it?
Comments: This can be a fun ray to catch on light tackle! Try fishing at night on almost any southern California pier (and a few in central California), use light tackle, and bring a good light so that you can distinguish this non-harmful ray from the more dangerous round stingrays.
