| Smallfin gulper shark | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Squaliformes |
| Family: | Centrophoridae |
| Genus: | Centrophorus |
| Species: | C. moluccensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Centrophorus moluccensis (Bleeker, 1860) |
|
| Range of smallfin gulper shark (in blue) | |
The smallfin gulper shark, Centrophorus moluccensis, is a medium-sized deepwater dogfish.
Contents |
The smallfin gulper has no anal fin, two dorsal fins with spines, long free rear tips on pectoral fins, and a deeply notched caudal fin. Maximum length 98 cm.
The smallfin gulper is found in the western Indian Ocean off South Africa and Mozambique, and the western Pacific off Honshū, Japan, Indonesia, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and southern Australia.
The smallfin gulper is a common deepwater shark. They live near the bottom between 130 and 820 m. They are ovoviviparous and have 2 pups per litter. Their food is primarily bony fish but also other sharks, molluscs, crustaceans, and even tunicates.