Frog shark

Frog shark
Conservation status

Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Somniosidae
Genus: Somniosus
Species: S. longus
Binomial name
Somniosus longus
S. Tanaka (I), 1912
Synonyms

Heteroscymnus longus Tanaka, 1912

The frog shark (Somniosus longus) is a species of shark that is very rare and is mainly found in deeper water. It is in the sleeper shark family with the Greenland shark.

Description

The frog shark is known to grow to at least 143 cm in length.

Range

Fewer than a dozen specimens of this deep water shark have been collected, mostly from the Pacific Ocean. The frog shark has been recorded off the coasts of Japan, New Zealand, and possibly Salas y GΓ³mez, as well as the Nazca Ridge, from as shallow as 120-150 m and as deep as 1,116 m.[2]

Threats

The Frog Shark is occasionally caught by trawl, longline, and crab-pot fisheries.

References

  1. ↑ Francis, M. & Tanaka, S. (2009). "Somniosus longus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Somniosus longus".