Common Name
Deepwater Catshark
Year Described
Goode and Bean, 1896
Identification
An elongate, soft-bodied shark with a short snout snout (7-8% TL). Eyes small. A conspicuous oval-shaped series of pores is present on the ventral snout. Labial furrows large and conspicuous. Upper and lower jaw teeth similar in both sexes; males with a single cusp (rarely with 2 weak lateral cusps), and females with a large central cusp and 2-4 small lateral cusplets. Short-trunked: pectoral base to pelvic fin distance (trunk length) less than twice inter-dorsal distance. There are two dorsal fins: the second being slightly smaller than the first and inserted beyond mid-point of anal fin base. The first dorsal fin is inserted over the rear half of pelvic fin base. The distance between the dorsal fins is less than the snout length. The anal fin base is relatively short. The pectoral fin is low on the body and is squared off on the margin. The caudal fin is long with a very weak lower lobe. Pelvic fin tip well separated anal fin origin. Denticles sparse and weakly overlapping with three sharp points (central one rather short), a strong central ridge, rounded anterior margins, and a dense scaly covering.
Color
Uniformly light to dark brown on body and fins. Fin edges dark.
Size
Mature adults from 60-62cm. Maximum size to 75cm TL.
Habitat
Deep waters from 1,000-1,750m. Bottom-dwelling.
Range
Northwestern Atlantic: off the northeastern US and offshore seamounts (Bear)
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
Records of A. microps from northwestern Atlantic waters are considered A. profundorum (Castro, 2011).