Hexanchus nakamurai (Bigeye sixgill shark)

Teng, 1962

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

Hexanchus nakamurai (Bigeye sixgill shark) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A small, slim, 6-gilled cowshark with a narrow snout, big eyes, and a long, slender caudal peduncle. Colour uniform brownish grey, paler below, fins white-edged.

Size

To 1.8 m TL.

Range

Natal and southern Mozambique; most warm-temperate and tropical seas.

Habitat

Usually offshore, 90 to 600 m near bottom, may rise to surface at night, once caught near shore.

Biology

Uncommon and poorly known. Bears 13 young.

Human Impact

Caught by bottom trawlers.

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