The little skate (Leucoraja erinacea); formerly Raja erinacea, occurs from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras and is one of the dominant members of the demersal fish community of the northwest Atlantic. Its center of abundance is in the northern section of the MidAtlantic Bight and on Georges Bank, where it is found year-round over almost the entire range of temperatures recorded for those areas. Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) reported that females mature when 32-43 cm TL, and males at 36-45 cm TL.

Little and winter skate co-occurred significantly in surveys from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras between 1967-1970; little skate was also associated with barndoor skate (Dipturus laevis). Although little and winter skate are sympatric species with similar habitat requirements, there does not appear to be a high degree of competitive interaction between them because they are positively correlated by abundance (NEFMC 2011).

This species is part of the Northeast skate complex fishery in the Greater Atlantic Region. This includes seven skate species and operates from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and from inshore to offshore waters on the edge of the continental shelf.  Skate is mostly harvested incidentally in trawl and gillnet fisheries targeting groundfish, monkfish, and sometimes scallops.  The Northeast skate complex fishery consists of seven species: Leucoraja ocellata (winter skate);Dipturis laevis (barndoor skate); Amblyraja radiata (thorny skate); Malacoraja senta (smooth skate); Leucoraja erinacea (little skate); Raja eglanteria(clearnose skate); and Leucoraja garmani (rosette skate).  The primary target species in the skate fishery are winter and little skates.  Winter skates are harvested for their wings for human consumption, and little skates are harvested as bait for lobster fisheries.The principal commercial fishing method used to catch all seven species of skates is otter trawling. Skates are frequently taken as bycatch during groundfish trawling and scallop dredge operations and discarded recreational and foreign landings are currently insignificant, at < 1% of the total fishery landings (NOAA 2011).