Frog shark

The frog shark (Somniosus longus) is a very rare species of shark mainly found in deep water. It is in the sleeper shark family with the Greenland shark.

Frog shark

Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Squaliformes
Family: Somniosidae
Genus: Somniosus
Species:
S. longus
Binomial name
Somniosus longus
Synonyms

Heteroscymnus longus Tanaka, 1912

Description

The frog shark is known to grow to at least 143 cm in length.[1]

Range

Fewer than a dozen specimens of this deepwater shark have been collected, mostly from the Pacific Ocean. The frog shark has been recorded off the coasts of Japan, New Zealand, and possibly Salas y Gómez, as well as the Nazca Ridge, from as shallow as 120–150 m and as deep as 1,116 m.[1]

Threats

The frog shark is occasionally caught by trawl, longline, and crab-pot fisheries. As of 2015, no current conservation efforts are in place.[1] In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the frog shark as "Data Deficient" with the qualifier "Uncertain whether Secure Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[2]

References
  1. Francis, M. & Tanaka, S. (2009). "Somniosus longus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T161552A5449863. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T161552A5449863.en.
  2. Duffy, Clinton A. J.; Francis, Malcolm; Dunn, M. R.; Finucci, Brit; Ford, Richard; Hitchmough, Rod; Rolfe, Jeremy (2018). Conservation status of New Zealand chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays), 2016 (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation. p. 11. ISBN 9781988514628. OCLC 1042901090.


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