| Family: |
Somniosidae (Sleeper sharks) |
| Max. size: |
130 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 54 years |
| Environment: |
bathydemersal; marine; depth range 230 - 1500 m |
| Distribution: |
Eastern Atlantic: Iceland, Faeroe Islands along Atlantic slope to Portugal, Senegal, Madeira, Gabon to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia (Ref. 247). Indian Ocean: Aldabra and the Travancore coast of India. Western Pacific: New South Wales, Australia and New Zealand. Southeast Pacific: northern Chile. |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 2-2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 0-0. Black or blackish brown in color, dorsal fins with very small fin spines, very long snout, greatly elongated labial furrows that nearly encircle mouth, lanceolate upper teeth and bladelike lower teeth with moderately long, oblique cusps, fairly slender body that does not taper abruptly from pectoral region, moderately large lateral trunk denticles with partly smooth, oval, cuspidate crowns in adults and subadults (Ref. 247). |
| Biology: |
A fairly common species found on continental and insular slopes (Ref. 6871), on or near the bottom (Ref. 5578). Feeds mainly on fish and cephalopods (Ref. 6871). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205), with 4-8 young in a litter (Ref. 6871), born at 28-35 cm (Ref. 26346). The flesh is high in mercury; utilized as fishmeal and source of squalene (Ref. 6871). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Near Threatened (NT); Date assessed: 21 November 2019 (A2bd) Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
poisonous to eat |
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