Thorny lanternshark

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Thorny lanternshark
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. sentosus
Binomial name
Etmopterus sentosus
Bass, D'Aubrey & Kistnasamy, 1976

The thorny lanternshark, Etmopterus sentosus, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Indian Ocean from Kenya to South Africa, including Madagascar, between latitudes 0° S and 31° S, at depths of between 200 and 500 m. Its length is up to 27 cm.

The thorny lanternshark is a slim dwarf species with two longitudinal rows of greatly enlarged, unique hooked denticles along the flanks, with other denticles small, conical and not arranged in lines. The second dorsal fin is over twice the size of the first.

It is found on the upper slopes of the continental shelves, on or near the bottom.

Coloration is greyish black above, underside black with an elongated broad black mark above, in front of and behind the pelvic fins, and other elongated black marks at the base and along the axis of the caudal fin.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

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