Mustelus hacat
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| Mustelus hacat Jiménez, Nishizaki & Geniz, 2005 |
Mustelus hacat is a smooth-hound shark species first discovered by ichthyologist Juan Carlos Pérez Jiménez in 2003 in the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico. The shark is slender, dark grey-brown and grows up to 1.2 metre (4 feet) long.
There are four other species of Mustelus in the eastern part of the Northern Pacific Ocean. M. hacat differs from its close relatives in its uniform grey-brown colour and the white tips and trailing edges of its dorsal, pectoral, anal, and caudal fins.[1] This is the first new shark find in the wildlife-rich inlet in the 34 years since tiny Mexican hornshark, Heterodontus mexicanus, was identified in 1972.[2]
In an interview with Reuters, Pérez Jiménez said,
| “ | What I first noticed was their color. They are dark in color, like dark coffee, and have white markings on the tips and edges of their fins and tails which jump out at you because they are so dark...There must be more undiscovered species there but access is difficult. If we hadn't been on those boats I'd never have seen them because that's the only place they are caught. And it's not a region that attracts scuba-diving...[3][4] | ” |
The name "hacat" means "shark" in the Seri language spoken by the Seri who live on the mainland coast of the Gulf of California, in Sonora, Mexico, near Tiburón Island. The shark have small teeth and are believed to feed on shrimp in deep waters. The specimens were netted at a depth of about 200 meters (660 feet).
Samples of the new species were taken to CICESE Science and Technology Research Center at the port of Ensenada.
[edit] References
- "Mustelus hacat". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- ^ Juan Carlos Pérez Jiménez, Oscar Sosa Nishizaki, & José Leonardo Castillo Geniz (2005). "A New Eastern North Pacific Smoothhound Shark (Genus Mustelus, Family Triakidae) from the Gulf of California". Copeia: 834–845.
- ^ Biologist discovers new shark species in Sea of Cortez. Surfer's Village (2006). Retrieved on 2006-03-06.
- ^ Biologist discovers new shark species. Reuters. Retrieved on 2006-03-06.
- ^ New brown shark species discovered. Boing Boing (2006). Retrieved on 2006-03-06.
