Oxynotus

Oxynotus is a genus of sharks in the order Squaliformes, commonly known as the rough sharks. It is the only extant genus in the family Oxynotidae. They live in deep waters in the Atlantic and western Pacific Oceans.

Oxynotus
Temporal range: 23–0 Ma[1] Lower Miocene to present
Caribbean roughshark, Oxynotus caribbaeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Oxynotidae
T. N. Gill, 1912
Genus: Oxynotus
Rafinesque, 1810
Type species
Oxynotus centrina
Prickly dogfish, Oxynotus bruniensis
Angular roughshark, Oxynotus centrina

Rough sharks are small to medium in size, ranging from 49 to 150 cm (1.61 to 4.92 ft) in adult body length, depending on species. Their bodies are compressed, giving them a triangular cross-section. They have two large dorsal fins, each with a sharp spine, and with the first fin placed far forward above the head. Even more so than their relatives, the dogfishes, they have rough and prickly skin. Unusually among sharks, they also possess a luminous organ.[2]

Species
  • Oxynotus bruniensis Ogilby, 1893 (prickly dogfish)
  • Oxynotus caribbaeus Cervigón, 1961 (Caribbean roughshark)
  • Oxynotus centrina Linnaeus, 1758 (angular roughshark)
  • Oxynotus japonicus Ka. Yano & Murofushi, 1985 (Japanese roughshark)
  • Oxynotus paradoxus Frade, 1929 (sailfin roughshark)
gollark: Interesting.
gollark: What would you consider a nonbasic delusion?
gollark: What did gods ever do for us?
gollark: I don't think refusing to subject some arbitrary subset of your beliefs to inquiry is very good.
gollark: It's not really a useful theory though. It makes no testable predictions.

See also
  • List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish

References
  1. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  2. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2009). "Oxynotidae" in FishBase. January 2009 version.
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