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Apristurus spongiceps

(Holbiche T?te Molle)

Overview

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Family : Cat sharks ; A rare shark known only from two specimens taken on the insular slopes , on or near the bottom [1]. Oviparous [2].

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Dutch:

Sponshoofdkathaai

Common Names in English:

Spongehead cat shark, spongehead catshark

Common Names in French:

Holbiche T?te Molle, Holbiche T, Holbiche tête molle

Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:

圆鳍光尾鲨, 圓鰭光尾鯊

Common Names in Spanish:

Pejegato esponjosa, Pejegato esponjoso

Description

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Habitat

May be found at depths of 572 to 1482 meters.

Ecology: A rare shark known only from two specimens taken on insular slopes , on or near the bottom at 572 to 1,482 m depth. The holotype is a 51.4 cm TL gravid female (Hawaiian specimen). The other known specimen is a 10.5 cm TL juvenile (Sulawesi specimen).

Apristurus species are relatively small, sluggish sharks that live on or near the bottom on the upper continental slope . Diet includes crustaceans (penaeid shrimps, euphausiids ), squids and small fishes . Where known reproduction is oviparous with one egg per oviduct . Egg cases are usually thick-walled and about 5 to 6.8 cm long and 2.5 to 2.9 cm wide. The anterior end of the case has a long weak fibrous thread on each corner. The posterior end usually has two small processes, each with a long coiled tendril . As in shallow water scyliorhinids the coiled tendrils are probably used to attach the egg cases to hard substrates and/or biogenic structures as they are laid. (Ref. 255046).

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Apristurus spongiceps • Catulus spongiceps • Catulus spongiceps Gilbert • Catulus spongiceps Gilbert, 1905 • Parapristurus spongiceps • Parapristurus spongiceps (Gilbert • Pentanchus spongiceps • Pentanchus spongiceps (Gilbert

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

First described: Smith F. Gilbert The Habits of Asemum striatum and Criocephalus ferus. The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1905: 165-176., 1905.

Comment: Year from Eschmeyer[3].

Last scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 27-Oct-2000

The genus Apristurus contains at least 32 described species and a relatively large number of potentially undescribed ones. Morphological conservatism and, until recently, a lack of objectively defined characters makes this one of the most taxonomically confused shark genera (Compagno 1984, Nakaya and Sato 1999).

Nakaya and Sato (1999) defined three species groups within Apristurus: the longicephalus-group (two species), brunneus-group (20 species) and spongiceps-group (10 species). The spongiceps-group is characterized by: a short, wide snout (prenarial length A. spongiceps is readily distinguished from its congeners by its unique pleated gills (Compagno 1984). (Ref. 255046).

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Apristurus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 39 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. acanutus (Flatnose Cat Shark) · A. albisoma (Whitish Catshark) · A. ampliceps (Roughskin Catshark) · A. aphyodes (White Ghost Catshark) · A. atlanticus (Atlantic Catshark) · A. australis (Pinocchio Catshark) · A. brunneus (Brown Cat Shark) · A. bucephalus (Bighead Catshark) · A. canutus (Hoary Cat Shark) · A. exsanguis (Deepwater Catshark) · A. fedorovi (Stout Catshark) · A. gibbosus (Humpback Cat Shark) · A. herklotsi (Longfin Cat Shark) · A. indicus (Smallbelly Cat Shark) · A. internatus (Shortnose Demon Catshark) · A. investigatoris (Broadnose Cat Shark) · A. japonicus (Japanese Cat Shark) · A. kampae (Longnose Cat Shark) · A. laurussoni (Atlantic Ghost Cat Shark) · A. laurussonii (Flathead Catshark) · A. longicephalus (Smooth-Belly Catshark) · A. macrorhynchus (Flathead Cat Shark) · A. macrostomus (Broadmouth Cat Shark) · A. manis (Ghost Cat Shark) · A. melanoasper (Black Roughscale Catshark) · A. microps (Smalleye Cat Shark) · A. micropterygeus (Smalldorsal Cat Shark) · A. nasutus (Largenose Cat Shark) · A. parvipinnis (Smallfin Cat Shark) · A. parvipinnisin (Smallfin Cat Shark) · A. pinguis (Fat Catshark) · A. platyrhynchus (Spatulasnout Cat Shark) · A. profundorum (Deep-Water Catshark) · A. riveri (Broadgill Cat Shark) · A. saldanha (Saldanha Cat Shark) · A. sibogae (Pale Catshark Pale Catshark) · A. sinensis (South China Cat Shark) · A. spongiceps (Spongehead Cat Shark) · A. stenseni (Panama Ghost Cat Shark)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 02, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Compagno, L.J.V. (1984). FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. (125, Vol. 4, Part 2), 655 p. [back]
  2. Dulvy, N.K. and J.D. Reynolds (1997). Evolutionary transitions among egg-laying, live-bearing and maternal inputs in sharks and rays. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 264:1309-1315. [back]
  3. Eschmeyer, W.N., Editor (1999). Catalog of fishes. Updated database version of November 1999. Catalog databases as made available to FishBase in November 1999. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012