Pacific sleeper shark
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| Somniosus pacificus Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944 |
The Pacific sleeper shark, Somniosus pacificus, is a sleeper shark of the family Dalatiidae, found circumglobally on continental shelves and slopes in temperate waters between latitudes 70° N and 47° S, from the surface to 2,000 m. Its length is up to 4.4 m (14 feet), although FishBase accepts that it could possibly reach 7 m. In 1990, an enormous Pacific sleeper shark was attracted to a bait in deep water outside of Tokyo Bay, Japan and caught on video. The shark was estimated by Eugene Clark to be about 7 metre (23 feet) long (some tabloids made outrageous claims that it was a "Megalodon").
The Pacific sleeper shark feeds on bottom animals such as fishes, octopuses, squids, crabs and tritons, Harbor Seals and carrion. The flesh contains a type of toxin which, when eaten, produces symptoms of drunkenness. It is one of two creatures (along with the sperm whale) that feed on giant squid and colossal squid, as research on the stomach contents of this shark has shown. Since the 7 m (23 ft) shark might have problems catching and devouring a 12 to 14 m (39 to 46 ft) squid since the squid is large enough to try to eat the shark itself, it is believed that the shark may feed on squid carcasses rather than live squid.
Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with 300 pups in a litter. Length at birth about 42 cm or less.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Somniosus pacificus (TSN 160610). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 23 January 2006.
- "Somniosus pacificus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 09 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- New giant squid predator found. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
