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Oxynotus centrina (Flatiron shark)
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii >
Squalomorphii >
Squaliformes > Oxynotidae
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Oxynotus centrina (Flatiron shark) [Illustration
by Ann Hecht ©] |
Identification
An unmistakable high-bodied small shark of
bizarre form, skin with a bristly texture. Colour uniform grey or
grey-brown.
Size
To 1.5 m TL.
Range
West coast from northern
Namibia to Cape Point; elsewhere tropical West Africa north to
Europe.
Habitat
Outer shelf and upper slope at 60 to 660 m.
Biology
Rare and little known, bears 7 or 8 young. Eats polychaete
worms.
Human Impact
Occasionally caught by trawlers off Namibia.
Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert
and Malcolm J. Smale
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