Hook tooth shark
| Hook tooth shark | ||||||||||||
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Drawing from Fauna of British India , 1889. |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Chaenogaleus | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1862 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Chaenogaleus macrostoma | ||||||||||||
| ( Bleeker , 1852) |
The hook tooth shark ( Chaenogaleus macrostoma ) is the only species of the monotypical genus Chaenogaleus within the weasel sharks (Hemigaleidae). The distribution area extends in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific from the Gulf of Oman over the coast of Pakistan , Sri Lanka and India to Thailand , Vietnam , China and Indonesia .
Appearance and characteristics
The hook-tooth shark is a relatively small and slender shark with an average length of 70 to 90 cm and a maximum length of 100 cm. It has a light gray to bronze colored back without any noticeable markings and a white belly.
The shark has a long snout and large, round eyes with nodding skins . It has an anal fin and two dorsal fins . The first dorsal fin is much larger than the second and begins behind the end of the pectoral fins. The second dorsal fin sits opposite the anal fin. The shark has five comparatively long gill slits and a very small injection hole (spiraculum). The mouth is elongated and parabolic, the hook-shaped lower jaw teeth protrude from it.
Way of life
The hook-toothed shark lives as a common species near the coast in the area of the continental shelf and on island bases from the shore zone to depths of around 760 m. It predatory feeds on various bony fish , crabs and cephalopods .
It is viviparous and forms a yolk sac placenta ( placental viviparous ). The females give birth to around four young animals. The young sharks have a size of about 20 centimeters. The animals reach sexual maturity at a length of about 70 cm.
distribution
The distribution area of the hook tooth shark extends in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific from the Gulf of Oman over the coast of Pakistan , Sri Lanka and India to Thailand , Vietnam , China and Indonesia .
literature
- Leonard Compagno , Marc Dando, Sarah Fowler: Sharks of the World . Princeton University Press , Princeton and Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-0-691-12072-0 , p. 289.
Web links
- Species portrait on hai.ch
- Hook tooth shark on Fishbase.org (English)
- Chaenogaleus macrostoma inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: White, WT, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2013.