Whitetail dogfish

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iWhitetail dogfish
Conservation status
Data deficient (DD)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Scymnodalatias
Species: S. albicauda
Binomial name
Scymnodalatias albicauda
Taniuchi & Garrick, 1986

The whitetail dogfish, Scymnodalatias albicauda, is a very rare sleeper shark of the family Dalatiidae, found from the eastern Indian Ocean round southern Australia to New Zealand, at depths of between 150 and 500 m. Its length is up to 1.1 m.

The whitetail dogfish is a rare species known only from a few specimens taken by tuna longliners and trawlers. The dorsal fins are small, the pectoral fins are angular, and there is an asymmetric caudal fin with a dark-tipped upper lobe.

Coloration is grey and white, mottled with large brown or black spots, the tail mostly white with black tips.

The whitetail dogfish is ovoviviparous, with at least 59 pups per litter.

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