Pygmy lanternshark

Taxobox
name = Pygmy 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. fusus"
range_

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range_map_width = 200px
range_map_caption = Range of the pygmy lanternshark (in blue)
binomial = "Etmopterus fusus"
binomial_authority = Last, Burgess & Séret, 2002The pygmy lanternshark, "Etmopterus fusus", is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the eastern Indian Ocean from northern Western Australia and possibly Java, at depths of between 430 and 550 m. Its length is up to 26 cm.

The pygmy lanternshark's body is almost cylindrical, with rather narrow eyes and a pale naked patch on the upper eyelid. The caudal peduncle is elongate. The denticles are arranged in longitudinal rows on flanks and caudal peduncle, but not on the head. The second dorsal fin is more than twice the height of the first. It is found on the continental shelves and upper slopes.

Coloration is dark greyish or black, with faint dark markings behind the pelvic fins, on the caudal peduncle, and the caudal fin. The fins are pale with dark margins. Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

References

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