Slendertail lanternshark

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Slendertail lanternshark
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. molleri
Binomial name
Etmopterus molleri
(Whitley, 1939)
Range of the slendertail lanternshark (in blue)
Range of the slendertail lanternshark (in blue)

The Slendertail lanternshark, Etmopterus molleri, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Indian Ocean, recently reported off southern Mozambique, and the western Pacific from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, between latitudes 34° N and 46° S, at depths of between 250 and 860 m. Its length is up to 46 cm.

The slendertail lanternshark is small and slender, with a moderately elongate caudal peduncle and flank denticles mostly arranged in regular rows. There are no denticles on the second dorsal fin, which is taller than the first.

Coloration is light brown above, black below, with a pale stripe on side and a black streak above and behind the pelvic fins, with a luminous belly.

Reproduction is presumed to be ovoviviparous.

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