Thorny lanternshark

Taxobox
name = Thorny lanternshark


image_caption =
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
trend =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
ordo = Squaliformes
familia = Dalatiidae
genus = "Etmopterus"
species = "E. sentosus"
range_

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range_map_width = 200px
range_map_caption = Range of the thorny lanternshark (in blue)
binomial = "Etmopterus sentosus"
binomial_authority = Bass, D'Aubrey & Kistnasamy, 1976The thorny lanternshark, "Etmopterus sentosus", is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the western Indian Ocean from Kenya to South Africa, including Madagascar, between latitudes 0° S and 31° S, at depths of between 200 and 500 m. Its length is up to 27 cm.

The thorny lanternshark is a slim dwarf species with two longitudinal rows of greatly enlarged, unique hooked denticles along the flanks, with other denticles small, conical and not arranged in lines. The second dorsal fin is over twice the size of the first.

It is found on the upper slopes of the continental shelves, on or near the bottom.

Coloration is greyish black above, underside black with an elongated broad black mark above, in front of and behind the pelvic fins, and other elongated black marks at the base and along the axis of the caudal fin. Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

References

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