Broadbanded lanternshark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Broadbanded lanternshark | ||||||||||||||||
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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Etmopterus gracilispinis Krefft, 1968 |
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Range of the broadbanded lanternshark (in blue)
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The broadbanded lanternshark, Etmopterus gracilispinis, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Atlantic from Virginia and Florida, Uruguay and Argentina, and reported off Suriname, between latitudes 40° N and 45° S, at depths of between 70 and 1,000 m. Its length is up to 35 cm.
The broadbanded lanternshark is stout, with a short tail and small conical denticles, not forming conspicuous lines along the body. It is found on outer continental shelves and upper slopes on or near the bottom, and is also pelagic at depths of 70 to 480 m over water 2,240 m deep off Argentina. The gill openings are very short. The second dorsal fin is about twice the area of the first.
It feeds on bony fish, octopus, squid and deep-water shrimp.
Coloration is brown above, becoming black ventrally with inconspicuous, elongated, broad black marks above the ventral fins and along the caudal fin and at its base.
Reproduction is presumed to be ovoviviparous.
[edit] References
- "Etmopterus gracilispinis". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, Sharks of the World, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005 ISBN 0-691-12072-2