Yellowspotted catshark

The yellowspotted catshark (Scyliorhinus capensis) is a rare catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found in the southeast Atlantic, from Lüderitz, Namibia to central Natal, South Africa, between latitudes 0° and 37° S. It can grow up to a length of about 1.22 metres (4 ft 0 in). The reproduction of this catshark is oviparous.

Yellowspotted catshark

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Family: Scyliorhinidae
Genus: Scyliorhinus
Species:
S. capensis
Binomial name
Scyliorhinus capensis

Description

The yellowspotted catshark is a long slender fish with rough skin. The upperparts are light grey, copiously spotted with small golden-yellow spots. There are eight or nine dark patches on the back which bridge the spine. The underside is cream-coloured. Small flaps cover the nostrils but do not extend as far as the mouth and there are no nasoral grooves. There are two triangular dorsal fins, the front one considerably larger than the rear one.[2][3]

Distribution and habitat

The yellowspotted catshark is found in the seas around the coast of southern Africa at depths down to about 500 metres (1,600 ft). Its range extends from Lüderitz in Namibia to central Natal.[2] Although fairly common off the coast of South Africa it occurs less frequently and in deeper waters in the more tropical parts of its range in Namibia and Natal. Although seen over sandy bottoms, it also frequents rocky reefs.[1]

Biology

The yellowspotted catshark feeds on small fish, crustaceans and squid.[2] It is an egg-laying species, laying a single egg at a time, and enclosing it in an egg case roughly 8 by 3 centimetres (3.1 in × 1.2 in).[3] The juvenile fish when they hatch may measure about 25 cm (10 in) and the adults can grow to 1.22 metres (4 ft 0 in) but most individuals are under a metre (3 ft) long. This shark is more common on rocky reefs than on sandy seabeds.[1]

Status

The IUCN, in its Red List of Threatened Species lists the yellowspotted catshark as being "Near Threatened". In the offshore waters where it lives there is a large hake fishery and the yellowspotted catshark is caught and discarded as bycatch during trawling. The rate of reproduction is probably failing to keep up with the depletion of the adult population by this means thus threatening the species' future.[1]

gollark: What are those?
gollark: I bought a 128GB micro-SD card to store my large collection of random media on the go.
gollark: With root access you can move apps to the SD card, which is not really ideal.
gollark: I have 32GB of internal storage on my smartphone™.
gollark: Some of them use 100MB or so, but it isn't THAT much.

References
  1. Compagno, L.J.V.; Krose M. & Brash, J. (2004). "Scyliorhinus capensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T39349A10212149. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T39349A10212149.en.
  2. Carpenter, Kent E. "Scyliorhinus capensis (Müller & Henle, 1838)". FishBase. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  3. "Yellowspotted catshark (Scyliorhinus capensis)". Sharks of the World. Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.