You can sponsor this page

Hemipristis elongata (Klunzinger, 1871)

Snaggletooth shark
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Hemipristis elongata   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Hemipristis elongata (Snaggletooth shark)
Hemipristis elongata
Picture by FAO


Australia country information

Common names: Fossil shark, Snaggletooth shark
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: minor commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Occurs in northern Australia, from Bunbury in Western Australia (rarely south to Shark Bay) to Lizard Island in Queensland (Ref. 6871). Minor component of the northern Australian gillnet fishery (Ref. 6871). Also Ref. 244, 7300, 13567.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens, 1994
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Hemigaleidae (Weasel sharks)
Etymology: Hemipristis: hemi-, from hemisys (Gr.), half; pristis, from pristes (Gr.), sawyer (but here meaning saw), allusion not explained, possibly referring to how marginal serrations of teeth of H. serra (type species, a fossil) do not extend over the entire length of each tooth. (See ETYFish);  elongata: Latin for prolonged, referring to its long and slim body. (See ETYFish).
  More on author: Klunzinger.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 1 - 130 m (Ref. 6871).   Tropical; 41°N - 34°S, 12°E - 156°E (Ref. 6871)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea and southeast Africa, including Persian Gulf (Ref. 68964) to Philippines, north to China, south to Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 120 - ? cm
Max length : 240 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5578); common length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 13567)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A slender weasel shark with a long, broadly rounded snout, large curved, saw-edged teeth in the upper jaw, and hooked lower teeth protruding from mouth; gill slits long; fins strongly curved (Ref. 5578). Light grey or bronzy with no prominent markings (Ref. 5578).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A coastal species, found inshore and offshore on the continental and insular shelves (Ref. 244). Feeds on sharks, rays and bony fishes (Ref. 244); also cephalopods (Ref. 13567). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Thought to be potentially dangerous because of its large, fearsome teeth and shallow-water habitat, but has not been recorded in an attack on people (Ref. 244). Caught regularly by inshore gillnet, bottom trawl (occasionally) and longline fisheries (Ref.58048). Regularly taken in artisanal fisheries (Ref. 13567). Utilized fresh for human consumption, liver processed for vitamins, fins used in the oriental shark fin trade, and by-products processed into fishmeal (Ref. 244). Most adults below 200 cm (Ref. 30573).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Viviparous, with 2 to 11 young in a litter (Ref. 6871) after a gestation period of 7-8 months; possibly reproduces in alternate years (Ref.58048). Size at birth about 45-52 cm TL (Ref. 13567, Ref.58048). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

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(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd+3bd); Date assessed: 20 February 2015

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 5213)




Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 23.8 - 29, mean 27.9 (based on 2110 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0039   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00363 (0.00147 - 0.00899), b=3.07 (2.86 - 3.28), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec=2).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.