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Heptranchias perlo (Sharpnose sevengill
shark)
(Bonnaterre, 1788)
Life
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Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii >
Squalomorphii > Hexanchiformes >
Hexanchidae
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Heptranchias perlo (Sharpnose sevengill
shark) [Illustration
by Ann Hecht ©] |
Identification
A small, slim, narrow-headed big-eyed cowshark
with 7 gill slits. Colour brownish to olive grey above, lighter
below, dark tips on caudal and dorsal fin in young, adults with
light fin margins.
Size
To 1.4 m TL.
Range
Namibia, also Natal and
southern Mozambique; elsewhere most warm-temperate and tropical
seas.
Habitat
Mostly offshore, 100 to 450 m near bottom; elsewhere
ranges from 27 to 720 m.
Biology
Common off Natal; feeds on small
bony fish, small sharks and rays, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, squid,
and cuttlefish. Bears 9 to 20 young.
Human Impact
Caught by bottom
trawlers.
Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert
and Malcolm J. Smale
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