Common Name
Atlantic Needle Dogfish
Year Described
undescribed
Identification
Body is moderately elongate with a flattened, long snout. There are two dorsal fins, nearly equal in size, both possessing a grooved spine on the anterior margin. Distance between dorsals equal to the distance from the snout to the midbase of the pectoral fin. Origin of the first dorsal is over posterior free margin of the pectoral fin. Snout a little longer than mouth width. Anterior nasal flap is short. Teeth in lower jaw are broader than upper and are blade-like without cusplets. The five gill slits are equal in size. Pectoral fin is rather short with an elongate free rear margin. Anal fin is absent. Pelvic fins set far back on body, almost under the second dorsal. The caudal fin is long with a well-developed sub-terminal notch and a moderately developed ventral lobe. Eye is large. Skin has partially overlapping denticles (low pedicels, leaf-like crowns with one central and two lateral cusps).
Color
Light gray, grayish brown, to brown.
Size
Around 100cm
Habitat
Benthic on outer continetal shelf and slope from 200-900 m. Poorly known. May be nocturnal. Ovoviviparous (number unknown).
Range
Only found off the Bahamas to date (Castro, 2011).
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.
Other Notes
Related to Centrophorus acus of the western Pacific or C. lusitanicus from the eastern Atlantic.