False lanternshark

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False lanternshark
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. pseudosqualiolus
Binomial name
Etmopterus pseudosqualiolus
Last, Burgess & Séret, 2002
Range of the false lanternshark (in blue)
Range of the false lanternshark (in blue)

The false lanternshark, Etmopterus pseudosqualiolus, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Pacific from the Norfolk Ridge and Lord Howe Ridge off New Caledonia, at depths of between 670 and 1.170 m. Its length is up to 45 cm.

The false lanternshark's body is cigar-shaped, with almost round eys with a small opalescent lunate patch on the upper eyelid margin. The deep head is conical with a short bulbous snout. The caudal peduncle is short. The denticles are small, with slightly curved cusps, arranged in irregular rows. It is found on the continental shelves and upper slopes.

Coloration is dark brown to black above, and dark underneath. The fins are pale on the posterior margins.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

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