Common Name
Leafscale Gulper Shark
Year Described
Bonnaterre, 1788
Identification
Body is moderately elongate with a thick, rounded snout. There are two dorsal fins, the first long and low, both possessing a grooved spine on the anterior margin (second larger). Origin of the first dorsal is over posterior free margin of the pectoral fin. 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 angular free margin that is not greatly extended. 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 poorly developed ventral lobe. Posterior margin of tail almost straight. Eye is large. Skin has partially overlapping denticles (low pedicels, leaf-like crowns with one central and multiple lateral cusps).
Color
Gray, gray-brown or reddish-brown with no markings. Fins dusky.
Size
Mature adults from 100-110 cm. Maximum size 160 cm.
Habitat
Continental slopes from 230-2400 m on the bottom. Over deeper waters it lives from 0-1250 m. Lifestyle poorly known. Feeds on bony fishes and invertebrates. Ovoviviparous (5-8 young).
Range
Very poorly known in W. Atlantic. Reported off Venzuela (Carpenter, 2003). Also taken off of the NE Bahamas (Castro, 2011)
References
Compagno, L.J.V. 2002. Sharks. In: Carpenter, K.E. (Editor) FAO Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of The Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, mollusks, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. ASIH Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome.
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.