Animal Species:Portuguese Dogfish, Centroscymnus coelolepis Bocage & Capello, 1864
The Portuguese Dogfish is a uniform golden to black colour. The species occurs in the eastern and north-western Atlantic, and Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Standard Common Name
The Portuguese Dogfish is a uniform golden to black colour. It has a stout body with large, smooth denticles. There are two small, equal-sized dorsal fins that are each preceded by a small spine. The upper jaw teeth are dagger-like, but those in the lower jaw are slanted and blade-like.
Young are born at 30 cm in length and grow to 1.2 m.
The species occurs in the eastern and north-western Atlantic, and Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it has been trawled from off New South Wales and Tasmania.
Distribution by collection data
The species is found in continental slope and abyssal plain waters in depths from 270 m to 3700 m. In Australia individuals have been caught in depths from 770 m to 1400 m.
- 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 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes: viii, 1-250.
- Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513.
Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Tags Fishes, Ichthyology, Portuguese Dogfish, Centroscymnus coelolepis, Somniosidae, NORFANZ, shark, golden, black, stout body, odd-shaped, smooth denticles, two dorsal fins, small spine, dagger-like teeth, > 1m, marine, adult,