Velvet dogfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Subdivision: Selachimorpha
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Somniosidae
Genus: Zameus
D. S. Jordan & Fowler, 1903
Species:
Z. squamulosus
Binomial name
Zameus squamulosus
(Günther, 1877)
Range of the velvet dogfish
Synonyms
  • Centrophorus squamulosus Günther, 1877
  • Scymnodon obscurus Vaillant, 1888
  • Scymnodon niger Chu & Meng, 1982
  • Scymnodon squamulosus Günther, 1877

The velvet dogfish (Zameus squamulosus), the only member of the genus Zameus, is a small sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found around the world between latitudes 64°N and 48°S, from the surface to 2,000 m.

Description

Its length is up to 84 cm.[2] Although sharks within the family Somniosidae have generally been accepted to be non-luminous, Zameus squamulosus has photophores on its ventral epidermis.[3]

Reproduction

Its reproduction is ovoviviparous.

Conservation

In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the velvet dogfish as "Data Deficient" with the qualifier "Uncertain whether Secure Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Velvet dogfish.
  1. ^ Finucci, B.; Cheok, J.; Cotton, C.F.; Kulka, D.W.; Neat, F.C.; Pacoureau, N.; Rigby, C.L.; Tanaka, S.; Walker, T.I. (2020). "Zameus squamulosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T60215A3093577. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T60215A3093577.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ White, W.T., Vaz, D.F.B., Ho, H.-C., Ebert, D.A., Carvalho, M.R.d., Corrigan, S., Rochel, E., Carvalho, M.d., Tanaka, S. & Naylor, G.J.P. (2014): Redescription of Scymnodon ichiharai Yano and Tanaka 1984 (Squaliformes: Somniosidae) from the western North Pacific, with comments on the definition of somniosid genera. Ichthyological Research, 62 (2): 213-229.
  3. ^ Straube, N.; Chenhong, L.; Claes, J.M.; Corrigan, S.; Naylor, G.J.P. (2015). "Molecular phylogeny of squaliforms and first occurrence of bioluminescence in sharks". Evolutionary Biology. 15: 162. doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0446-6. PMC 4537554. PMID 26277575.
  4. ^ Duffy, Clinton A. J.; Francis, Malcolm; Dunn, M. R.; Finucci, Brit; Ford, Richard; Hitchmough, Rod; Rolfe, Jeremy (2018). Conservation status of New Zealand chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays), 2016 (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation. p. 11. ISBN 9781988514628. OCLC 1042901090.
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