Bahamas sawshark
| Bahamas sawshark | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pristiophorus schroederi | ||||||||||||
| Springer & Bullis , 1960 |
The Bahamas saw shark ( Pristiophorus schroederi ) is a shark from the family of saw sharks (Pristiophoridae). Like its relatives, the shark is characterized by a long saw-like snout, which makes up up to 32 percent of the body length of this species. It is known from a few specimens from only a few deep-sea areas in the Caribbean between Florida , Cuba and the Bahamas .
features
The Bahamas saw shark reaches a maximum length of about 80 cm. The body is long, cylindrical and slim. The head is flattened and has a greatly elongated and flattened snout with a saw-like rostrum typical of saw sharks , which makes up between 30 and 32 percent of the body length of this species. The rostrum has a distinctive pair of barbels in front of the nostrils as well as 23 pronounced posterior teeth on the side edge of the "saw". The barbels of this species are roughly in the middle between the mouth and the tip of the saw; There are 13 teeth in front of the barbels and 10 behind them. Young animals also have a small tooth between the larger saw teeth.
The top of its body is a solid light gray, the underside is white. On the rostrum there are darker gray stripes on the center line and on the edges, in addition, the edges of the pectoral fins are lighter in color. In young sharks, the edges of the dorsal fins also have dark edges.
The eyes are on the side of the head, behind them the large suction holes . Like other species of the genus, the sawshark has five gill slits . Like all saw sharks, it has two dorsal fins without a thorn and no anal fin . The tail stalk has distinct keels, the tail consists only of a large upper lobe , while the lower lobe is missing in all sawsharks.
Way of life
The Bahamas saw shark is a ground shark that occurs in water depths between 440 and at least 950 meters. Hardly any data are available about its way of life; it probably feeds on various fish and other soil organisms in a predatory manner. The sharks are viviparous and do not form a placenta (aplacentally viviparous ).
distribution
The Bahamas saw shark lives in the western Atlantic in the deep sea area of the Caribbean between Florida , Cuba and the Bahamas , although only a few defined distribution areas are known. Its habitat is on the continental slope near the seabed in water depths of 440 to 950 meters.
Danger
In the IUCN Red List , the Bahamas sawshark is not classified with the note "data deficient", due to its very limited range, a future assessment as "near threatened" is possible.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pristiophorus schroederi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009. Posted by: Heupel, MR, 2003. Retrieved on June 27 of 2009.
literature
- Leonard Compagno , Marc Dando, Sarah Fowler: Sharks of the World. Princeton Field Guides, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford 2005; Pp. 133-134, ISBN 978-0-691-12072-0 .
- Stewart Springer, Harvey R. Bullis Jr .: A New Species of Sawshark, Pristiophorus Schroederi , from the Bahamas. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean. Vol. 10, No. 2, 1960, pp. 241-254 (free full-text access : IngentaConnect ).
Web links
- Bahamas Saw Shark on Fishbase.org (English)