Caribbean lanternshark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iCaribbean lanternshark
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. hillianus
Binomial name
Etmopterus hillianus
(Poey, 1861)

The Caribbean lanternshark, Etmopterus hillianus, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the eastern and western Atlantic from Virginia to southern Florida, Cuba, Bermuda, Hispanola and St. Kitts, at depths of between 180 and 720 m. Its length is up to 50 cm.

The Caribbean lanternshark inhabits the upper continental and insular slopes, on sandy bottoms. Denticles largely cover the snout, but are not arranged in rows. The second dorsal fin is larger than the first, and the anterior part of both is dark.

Coloration is grey or dark brown above, and black underneath. There is an elongated broad dark mark above and behind the pelvic fins, and another on the caudal peduncle.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with 4 to 5 pups in a litter.

[edit] References