Dark ghost shark
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| Dark ghost shark | ||||||||||||||||
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| Hydrolagus novaezealandiae (Fowler, 1911) |
The dark ghost shark, Hydrolagus novaezealandiae, is a shortnose chimaera of the family Chimaeridae, found on the continental shelf around the South Island of New Zealand at depths of between 25 and 950 m. Its length is up to nearly 90 cm, not including the filamentous tail up to a third of the body length.
The dark ghost shark has a conical snout and an elongated tapering body surmounted by a triangular first dorsal and a long low second dorsal fin. The mouth is small and located well back beneath the snout.
The coloration is dark grey above with a mottled pattern of distinct silver-white markings, and pale silver-grey beneath.
Their diet is crustaceans, shellfish, worms and small fish.
[edit] References
- "Hydrolagus novaezealandiae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
