One of several empty and dried egg cases from a little skate, Leucoraja erinacea, I found at a pebble beach at the Chignecto Cape. (At least it is what I think, that it is from a skate and not from a shark)
Little skates are oviparous. Females deposit their egg capsules in pairs on sandy bottoms. Eggs may take up to 12 months to hatch, depending on temperature. The newborns are perfectly formed miniatures of the adults. After hatching, the empty egg capsules often wash ashore and are known as "mermaid's purses". That’s what I found here, how lucky am I! Such finds make me happy.
;-) No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information. This is not my natural habitat. Please correct me, if my identification is not correct or you know a more specific name or subfamily. I’m also interested in common or local names or any other special
