Common Name
Gulf Mosaic Gulper Shark
Year Described
undescribed
Identification
Body is elongate with a broad, long snout. There are two dorsal fins, nearly equal in size, both possessing a grooved spine on the anterior margin. Distance between dorsals shorter than the distance from the snout to the axil of the pectoral fin. Origin of the first dorsal is over axil of the pectoral fin. Snout length is longer than mouth width. Anterior nasal flap is short. Teeth in lower jaw are broader than upper and are blade-like without cusplets. Tooth rows: upper: 33-40 rows; lower: 30 rows. The five gill slits are equal in size. Pectoral fin with an elongate free rear margin. Anal fin is absent. Pelvic fins set far back on body, anterior to second dorsal. The caudal fin is long with a well-developed sub-terminal notch and a moderately developed ventral lobe. Caudal peduncle is longer (~8.6% of total length. Eye is large. Skin has low, block-like, non-overlapping denticles (no pedicels, broad rhomboidal crowns).
Color
Light brownish to brownish-gray on back, fading to whitish below.
Size
Mature adults from 43-70 cm. Maximum size 89 cm.
Habitat
Near bottom on insular slopes from 260-729 m. Lifestyle poorly known but presumably ovoviviparous.
Range
Known so far from the northern Gulf of Mexico and off Panama
References
Castro, J.I. 2011. The Sharks of North America. Oxford University Press, 640 pp.
Compagno, L., M. Dando, and S. Fowler. 2005. Sharks of the World. Princeton University Press, 480 pp.
McEachran, J. D., and J. D. Fechhelm. 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas. 1112 pp.
Other Notes
Nominal C. tessellatus is known from the western and central Pacific. This may be an undescribed species.