Shorttail lanternshark
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| Shorttail lanternshark | ||||||||||||||||
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| Etmopterus africana Smith & Radcliffe, 1912 |
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 Range of the shorttail lanternshark (in blue)
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The shorttail lanternshark, Etmopterus africana, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Pacific from Japan, the Philippines, and off Shark Bay, Western Australia between latitudes 37° N and 30° S, at depths of between 450 and 900 m. Its length is up to 50 cm.
The shorttail lanternshark is a slim lanternshark with conspicuous lines of rough hooked denticles on the head and body to the tail, and a short thick flat snout. The two dorsal fins have spines, the second long and curved to the rear. The upper teeth are pointed, with knife-like lower teeth. It inhabits the upper slope, on or near the bottom, and feeds mainly on mid-water bony fish, also squid, octopuses, shrimp and brittle stars.
Coloration is grey-brown above, underside black with a narrow, elongated dark mark above, in front of and behind the pelvic fins.
Reproduction is ovoviviparous.
[edit] References
- "Etmopterus africana". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, Sharks of the World, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005 ISBN 0-691-12072-2
