Chlamydoselachus sp. nov (Southern African frilled shark)

Chlamydoselachus sp. nov. (Southern African frilled shark)

Ebert & Compagno

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii > Squalomorphii > Hexanchiformes > Chlamydoselachidae

Chlamydoselachus sp. nov (Southern African frilled shark) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

An unmistakable snake-like dark brown or grey shark.

To 1.9 m TL.

Namibia, possibly Port Alfred, and Transkei, perhaps entire area; elsewhere, most temperate and tropical seas.

Offshore on the upper slope at 260 m near bottom, elsewhere from 120 to 1280 m, occasionally caught at surface or close inshore.

Rare and little-known, eats other sharks and bony fish. Bears 8 to 12 young.

Bites fiber-optic cables in the mid-Atlantic. Fished elsewhere.

Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert and Malcolm J. Smale