Description: A medium to large, slender shark, with a short head and moderately long snout, large eyes, and relatively short mouth. The teeth are molar-like, formed into a pavement. Uniformly grey or brown above and white below, usually unspotted or ocasionally with dark spots.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic from the UK to South Africa and into the southwestern Indian Ocean. Including Mediterranean and Atlantic islands. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Size at birth 35 cm (total length); Maximum length 200 cm (TL); common length 100.0 cm (TL).
Reproduction: Viviparous, with a yolk-sac placenta. Produces 4 - 10 young born at 35 cm.
Maturity: range 70 - ? cm.
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 5 - 624 m, usually 5 - 50 m.
Habitat: Demersal. Found on the continental shelves and uppermost slopes, from the intertidal region to at least 350 m depth. Sometimes in midwater but prefers to swim near the bottom. Associated with sandy bottoms.
Feeding habits: Feeds mainly on crustaceans, but also cephalopods and bony fishes.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.8
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Vulnerable.
Northeastern Atlantic: Data deficient.
Europe: Vulnerable.
Nutritional information & food safety:
REFERENCES
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Ebert D.A., Stehmann M.F.W. (2013). Sharks, batoids, and chimaeras of the North Atlantic. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes, No. 7. FAO, Rome, 523 pp.
Ferreira S., Sousa R., Delgado J., Carvalho D., Chada T. (2008). Weight-length relationships for demersal fish species caught off the Madeira archipelago (eastern-central Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 24: 93-95.
Gibson C., Valenti S.V., Fordham S.V., Fowler S.L. (2008). The Conservation of Northeast Atlantic Chondrichthyans: Repost of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Northeast Atlantic Red List Workshop. IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Groups, NatureBureau, Newbury, UK, 76 pp.
González J., Hernández C., Marrero P., Rapp E. (2000). Peces de Canarias: GuÃa Submarina (5th edition). Francisco Lemus Editor, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain, 235 pp.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Pereira J.N., Simas A., Rosa A., Aranha A., Lino S., Constantino E., Monteiro V., Tariche O., Menezes G. (2012). Weight–length relationships for 27 demersal fish species caught off the Cape Verde archipelago (eastern North Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 28(1): 156-159.
