Etmopterus gracilispinis /unicolor (Broadband lanternshark)

Krefft, 1968

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

Etmopterus gracilispinis (Broadband lanternshark)) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A stout brown lanternshark with a short tail; denticles on body small, conical, and not forming conspicuous lines. Underside of snout and abdomen grading to black, with inconspicous elongated, broad black marks running above and behind pelvic fins, and other elongated black marks at the caudal fin base and along the fin.

Size

To over 33 cm TL.

Range

West coast from southern Namibia to Cape Agulhas; elsewhere in western Atlantic.

Habitat

Upper slope, on or near the bottom at 479 to 923 m.

Biology

Feeds on small bony fish, octopus, squid, and deepwater shrimp.

Human Impact

None.

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