Hawaiian lanternshark

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Hawaiian lanternshark
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. villosus
Binomial name
Etmopterus villosus
Gilbert, 1905
Range of the Hawaiian lanternshark (in blue)
Range of the Hawaiian lanternshark (in blue)

The Hawaiian lanternshark, Etmopterus villosus, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found around the Hawaiian Islands, between latitudes 23° N and 19° N, at depths of between 400 and 910 m. Its maximum length is at least 46 cm.

The Hawaiian lanternshark is stout, with slender hooked conical denticles widely spaced in regular rows on the rear of the trunk and the tail. It is found on insular slopes on or near the bottom. The gill openings are moderately long. The second dorsal fin is nearly twice the area of the first, and each fin has a prominent leading spine, slightly curved to the rear.

Coloration is dark brown or blackish, darker beneath, with inconspicuous, elongated, narrow black marks above the ventral fins and along the caudal fin base.

Reproduction is presumed to be ovoviviparous.

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