Iceland catshark
| Iceland catshark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
| Family: | Scyliorhinidae |
| Genus: | Apristurus |
| Species: | A. laurussonii |
| Binomial name | |
| Apristurus laurussonii (Sæmundsson, 1922) | |
 | |
| Range of the Iceland catshark | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Apristurus maderensis Cadenat & Maul, 1966
| |
The Iceland or Icelandic catshark (Apristurus laurussonii) is a species of catshark, family Scyliorhinidae, found in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts, Delaware, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Atlantic from Iceland, southwestern Ireland, the Canary Islands and Madeira,South Africa and, between latitudes 67° N and 11° N.
Description
It has a relatively slender body, tapering slightly toward the head. It has a broad and somewhat long, bell-shaped snout. It has short gill slits, and adults have small eyes. The first and second dorsal fins are almost the same size. It is dark brown with no prominent markings. It reaches a maximum size of around 67 cm. Its diet is squid, bony fish, marine worms (such as the lugworm or clam worm), and crustaceans, including lobster, shrimp and crabs.
References
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Apristurus laurussonii" in FishBase. July 2006 version.