Southern sleeper shark
| Southern sleeper shark | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Squaliformes |
| Family: | Somniosidae |
| Genus: | Somniosus |
| Species: | S. antarcticus |
| Binomial name | |
| Somniosus antarcticus Whitley, 1939 | |
 | |
| Range of the southern sleeper shark (in blue) | |
The southern sleeper shark or Whitley's sleeper shark, Somniosus antarcticus, is a deepwater benthopelagic sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the southern Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.[1] It is known from depths of 400 to 1,100 m.[1][2] Its length is up to 4.4 m (14 ft).[2] It feeds primarily on cephalopods, especially the colossal squid, and fish; its stomach contents also less commonly contain remains of marine mammals and birds.[1] Based on its generally sluggish nature and the speed of its prey, it is thought to be an ambush predator.[1] A 3.6 m (12 ft) female caught off the coast of Chile had a whole southern right whale dolphin in its stomach. This dogfish is sometimes taken as bycatch in the orange roughy and Patagonian toothfish fisheries; whether this poses a threat to the species is currently unknown.[1]
This fish was formerly sometimes viewed as conspecific with either the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, or the Pacific sleeper shark, Somniosus pacifius. However, it was shown in 2004 to be a distinct species.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Stevens, J. (2003). "Somniosus antarcticus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Somniosus antarcticus" in FishBase. February 2012 version.
- ↑ Yano, K.; Stevens, J. D.; Compagno, L. J. V. (December 2004). "A review of the systematics of the sleeper shark genus Somniosus with redescriptions of Somniosus (Somniosus) antarcticus and Somniosus (Rhinoscymnus) longus (Squaliformes: Somniosidae)". Ichthyological Research (Springer) 51 (4): 360–373. doi:10.1007/s10228-004-0244-4. Retrieved 2012-02-15.