Roughskin dogfish
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| iRoughskin dogfish | ||||||||||||||||
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 Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Centroscymnus owstoni Garman, 1906 |
The roughskin dogfish, Centroscymnus owstoni, is a sleeper shark of the family Dalatiidae, found circumglobally on continental shelves in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas, at depths of between 100 and 1,500 m. It reaches a length of 120 cm.
The roughskin dogfish has two dorsal fins of approximately equal size and shape, with a small spine in front of each, and a long pointed snout.
The teeth are one of the main ways of distinguishing this species from the similar longnose velvet dogfish and plunket shark. The lanceolate upper teeth of the roughskin dogfish are narrow-based with expanded spear-like tips, and the lower teeth are broadly triangular with the point obliquely skewed away from the centre of the jaw.
Coloration is black or blackish brown.
The roughskin dogfish is ovoviviparous with 16 - 28 young in a litter.
It feeds mainly on fish and cephalopods.
The flesh is high in mercury, and is utilized as fishmeal and a source of squalene.
[edit] References
- "Centroscymnus owstoni". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
