Graceful catshark

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Graceful catshark
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Family: Proscylliidae
Genus: Proscyllium
Species: P. habereri
Binomial name
Proscyllium habereri
Hilgendorf, 1904

The graceful catshark, Proscyllium habereri, is a finback catshark of the family Proscylliidae, found in the western Pacific Ocean, from southeastern Japan to Viet Nam and northwestern Java, at depths of between 50 and 100 m. Females reach a length of 65 cm.

The graceful catshark is a little-known, uncommon bottom-dwelling shark found on the shelves of continental and insular waters, dwelling on the sublittoral zone. It has a caudal fin without a rippled dorsal margin and ventral lobe but with a strong subterminal notch, and a vertebral axis of the caudal fin a little raised above the body axis. Its food habits are little known - probably feeding on bony fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods.

The graceful catshark is oviparous giving birth to one or two pups per litter.

Coloration is round dark brown spots and indistinct saddles.

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