Pygmy shark

Pygmy shark
Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Squaliformes
Family:	Dalatiidae
Genus:	Euprotomicrus T. N. Gill, 1865
Species:	E. bispinatus
Binomial name
Euprotomicrus bispinatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
Range of pygmy shark (in blue)

The pygmy shark (Euprotomicrus bispinatus), the second-smallest of all the shark species after the dwarf lanternshark, is a sleeper shark of the Dalatiidae family, the only member of the genus Euprotomicrus. Their lengths are up to about 25 cm (10 in) for females and about 22 cm (8.7 in) for males.

Pygmy sharks are ovoviviparous and produce about eight young in each litter.

References

• Burgess (2005). "Euprotomicrus bispinatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2006. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 12 May 2006.  Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• "Euprotomicrus bispinatus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 April 2006. 
• Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Euprotomicrus bispinatus" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
• Timothy C. Tricas & others, Sharks & Rays, (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., London, UK 1997) ISBN 0-00-220104-6