Velvet belly lantern shark

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Velvet belly lantern shark

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Dalatiidae
Genus: Etmopterus
Species: E. spinax
Binomial name
Etmopterus spinax
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Range of the velvet belly lanternshark (in blue)
Range of the velvet belly lanternshark (in blue)

The velvet belly lantern shark, Etmopterus spinax, is a shark of the family Dalatiidae, found on the outer continental shelves and upper slopes of the eastern Atlantic, from Iceland to South Africa, down to depths of 2,500 m between latitudes 70° N and 38° S. Its length is up to 60 cm.

The velvet belly lantern shark feeds on small fishes, squids, and crustaceans. It is utilized for fishmeal and prepared dried salted for human consumption.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with 6 to 20 pups in a litter.

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