Nail sharks
| Nail sharks | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the order | ||||||||||||
| Echinorhiniformes | ||||||||||||
| de Carvalho , 1996 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Echinorhinidae | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1862 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Echinorhinus | ||||||||||||
| Blainville , 1816 |
The cuticle sharks ( Echinorhinus ) (Greek, echinos = sea urchins, rhinos = nose) or alligator sharks is the only genus of the Echinorhinidae family. They are closely related to the dogfish (Squalidae). There are two recent species , Echinorhinus brucus and Echinorhinus cookei .
Appearance
The animals have a typical torpedo-shaped shark shape. Their muzzle is blunt and broad. The two small, thornless dorsal fins sit close together, far back just before the caudal fin. They don't have an anal fin. The skin is covered with rough skin teeth.
nutrition
Nail sharks have a wide range of prey, including fish such as other smaller sharks, codfish , flatfish , herringfish , scorpion fish as well as crustaceans , octopuses and squids . The prey is sucked in by suddenly opening the mouth (suction snaps).
distribution
Echinorhinus brucus is up to 3.10 meters long and lives in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Argentina , in the eastern Atlantic from the North Sea to South Africa , as well as in the Mediterranean , in the western Indian Ocean from South Africa to India and in the western Pacific from South Australia and New Zealand to Japan . The four-meter-long Echinorhinus cookei lives in the western Pacific from Australia and New Zealand to Japan, near Hawaii and in the eastern Pacific from the Gulf of California to Chile . Both species inhabit the continental shelf and the shelf areas of islands close to the ground at depths of 10 to 900 meters.
Nail sharks are viviparous ( ovoviviparous ). Echinorhinus brucus is angled in South Africa.
Fossil nail sharks
Finds of fossil nail sharks of the genus Echinorhinus are relatively rare. The following species have been described so far: Spix
- Echinorhinus blakei Agassiz , 1856
- Echinorhinus caspius Glückman , 1964
- Echinorhinus kelleyi arrow , 1983
- Echinorhinus pfauntschi arrow , 1983
- Echinorhinus pollerspoecki arrow , 1983
- Echinorhinus pozzii Ameghino , 1906
- Echinorhinus priscus Arambourg , 1952
- Echinorhinus richiardii Lawley , 1876
- Echinorhinus schoenfeldi arrow , 1983
Paraechinorhinus and Pseudoechinorhinus are related, but already extinct genera.
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson, Fishes of the World , John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Pfeil, Friedrich H. (1983), Dental morphological investigations on recent and fossil sharks of the orders Chlamydoselachiformes and Echinorhiniformes. 315 pages, 146 illustrations. ISBN 978-3-923871-00-1
- ↑ Ameghino, F. (1906), Les formations sédimentaires du Crétacé supérieur et du Tertiaire de Patagonie. Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, 3 (8): 1-568, 358 fig., Pl. 1-3
- ^ Lawley, R. (1876), Nuovi studi sopra ai pesci i altri vertebrati fossili delle Colline Toscane.
Web links
- Family Echinorhinidae on Fishbase.org (English)
- Genus Echinorhinus on Fishbase.org (English)