Spotted sea sow
| Spotted sea sow | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spotted sea sow ( Oxynotus centrina ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Oxynotus centrina | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The spotted sea sow ( Oxynotus centrina ) is a species of shark from the genus of pig sharks ( Oxynotus ). The distribution area of this species is in the East Atlantic and extends from the west coast of the British Isles over the Bay of Biscay and the coast of the Iberian Peninsula to the coast of Senegal . It is also found in the Mediterranean and rarely in the northern North Sea and the Skagerrak . Compagno et al. be a distribution and south of the Equator to the Cape - Peninsula in South Africa on, but there oxynotus show a significantly greater distance between the dorsal fins than the north of the Equator captured animals.
Appearance and characteristics
The spotted sea sow is an unusual-looking shark with a relatively high-backed body and bristly textured skin. It reaches a maximum length of 120 to 150 centimeters, but usually stays at a length of 55 centimeters. The fish show a coarse, gray to gray-brown pattern of spots. One anal fin is missing, the two dorsal fins are preceded by the spines typical of the order. The first dorsal fin stands just behind the pectoral fins, the second above the pelvic fins. The spine of the first dorsal fin is directed obliquely forward and cuts the fin diagonally. Like all species in the family, the animals have five gill slits and a spray hole behind the eye.
Way of life
The spotted sea sow lives close to the ground on the outer continental shelf and over the continental slopes at depths of 60 to 660 meters, in the eastern Ionian Sea it has been detected at a depth of 777 meters. It feeds mainly on poly-bristles and injection worms , as well as bony fish , crustaceans and echinoderms . Little data is available about their way of life. Like other species of the order, it is viviparous ( ovoviviparous ) and has seven to eight young per litter, which are 25 cm long at birth.
Danger
The IUCN states in its Red List that Oxynotus centrina is endangered. The species is bycatch in deep-sea fishing .
supporting documents
- ↑ Oxynotus centrina in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2007. Posted by: Bradaï, MN, Serena, F., Bianchi, I. (Mediterranean) and Ebert, DA (South Africa), 2007. Accessed July 7 2011th
Web links
- Spotted sea sow on Fishbase.org (English)
literature
- Bent J. Muus, Jørgen G. Nielsen: The marine fish of Europe in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Atlantic. Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07804-3 .