Shorttail lanternshark

Taxobox
name = Shorttail lanternshark


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status =
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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
ordo = Squaliformes
familia = Dalatiidae
genus = "Etmopterus"
species = "E. africana"
range_

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range_map_width = 200px
range_map_caption = Range of the shorttail lanternshark (in blue)
binomial = "Etmopterus africana"
binomial_authority = Smith & Radcliffe, 1912The shorttail lanternshark, "Etmopterus africana", is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Pacific from Japan, the Philippines, and off Shark Bay, Western Australia between latitudes 37° N and 30° S, at depths of between 450 and 900 m. Its length is up to 50 cm.

The shorttail lanternshark is a slim lanternshark with conspicuous lines of rough hooked denticles on the head and body to the tail, and a short thick flat snout. The two dorsal fins have spines, the second long and curved to the rear. The upper teeth are pointed, with knife-like lower teeth. It inhabits the upper slope, on or near the bottom, and feeds mainly on mid-water bony fish, also squid, octopuses, shrimp and brittle stars.

Coloration is grey-brown above, underside black with a narrow, elongated dark mark above, in front of and behind the pelvic fins.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

References

*
* Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, "Sharks of the World", Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005 ISBN 0-691-12072-2