Brown lanternshark
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| Brown lanternshark | ||||||||||||||||
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| Etmopterus unicolor (Engelhardt, 1912) |
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 Range of the brown lanternshark (in blue)
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The brown lanternshark, Etmopterus unicolor, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Pacific from Japan and New Zealand, between latitudes 39° N and 33° S, at depths of between 400 and 1,380 m. Its length is up to 69 cm. It may also be found off southern Australia and South Africa, but this is unconfirmed.
The brown lanternshark is a large, robust lanternshark with a moderately long caudal fin and short caudal peduncle. The gill openings are fairly large. There are bristle-like denticles with slender, hooked conical crowns distributed irregularly on the flanks. The second dorsal fin is half again as large as the first. It is found on continental shelves and sea mounts.
Coloration is grey-brown, dark brown, or brownish black above, becoming black ventrally, with conspicuous black markings on the caudal peduncle and an indistinct mark on the flank above the pelvic fin.
Reproduction is ovoviviparous.
[edit] References
- "Etmopterus unicolor". 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
