Dense-scale lantern shark

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Dense-scale lanternshark
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. pycnolepis
Binomial name
Etmopterus pycnolepis
Kotlyar, 1990
Range of the dense-scale lanternshark (in blue)
Range of the dense-scale lanternshark (in blue)

The dense-scale lanternshark, Etmopterus pycnolepis, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the southeast Pacific off Peru and Chile, at depths down to 350 m. Its length is up to 45 cm.

The dense-scale lanternshark is a plainly coloured species with a narrow head and moderately long black-tipped tail. There are conspicuous black photomarks on the flanks, tail, and underside of the body. On the sides there are widely-spaced slender hooked denticles, not in regular rows. The second dorsal fin is nearly twice the area of the first. Each fin has a small leading spine, slightly curved to the rear.

Reproduction is presumed to be ovoviviparous.

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