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biodiversity explorer

the web of life in southern Africa

Somniosidae (sleeper sharks)

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

Deep-water dogfish with slender, 1-cusped upper teeth, large lower cutting teeth, tiny fin spines, rounded pectoral fins, and abdominal ridges.

Families found in Southern Africa

Centroscymnus coelolepis (Portugese shark)

A stocky, blackish-brown dogfish with a short snout, large mouth, short labial furrows and large round flat overlapping denticles in adults (young with tricuspidate denticles); lower teeth with short, bent cusps.

Centroscymnus owstoni (Shortnose velvet dogfish)

 

Centroselachus crepidater (Longnose velvet dogfish)

A slender black or blackish brown dogfish with a very long snout, greatly elongated labial furrows that nearly encircle the small mouth, and round flat overlapping denticles; lower teeth with moderately long, bent cusps.

Somniosus antarcticus (Southern sleeper shark)

A gigantic deepwater, heavy-bodied shark with small low, spineless dorsal fins, a moderately long rounded snout, a long lower caudal lobe, small unicuspid upper teeth, and moderate-sized, bent-cusped, lower slicing teeth. Colour medium grey or brown, sometimes with transverse dark bands or small light spots.

Zameus squamulosus (Velvet dogfish)

A small slender black dogfish with a moderately long snout, narrow mouth, short labial furrows, and high-cusped, knifelike lower teeth; denticles tricuspidate with transverse ridges.

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