First record of little sleeper shark, Somniosus rostratus (Elasmobranchii: Squaliformes: Somniosidae), from the Tunisian coast, central Mediterranean Sea

The first record of the little sleeper shark, Somniosus rostratus (Risso, 1827), from the Tunisian coast, is presented in this note. It was an adult female measuring 990 mm total length and weighing 4500 g. The capture occurred off Ras Jebel located in north-eastern Tunisia at a depth of 120 m. The...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta ichthyologica et piscatoria 2020-01, Vol.50 (4), p.475-480
Main Authors: CHRISTIAN, CAPAPÉ, Sihem, RAFRAFI-NOUIRA, Youssouph, DIATTA, Reynaud, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Colour
dental for
description
Females
Marine fishes
morphometric measurements
New records
Nursery grounds
Sharks
Somniosus rostratus
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The first record of the little sleeper shark, Somniosus rostratus (Risso, 1827), from the Tunisian coast, is presented in this note. It was an adult female measuring 990 mm total length and weighing 4500 g. The capture occurred off Ras Jebel located in north-eastern Tunisia at a depth of 120 m. The specimen is herein described including morphological measurements, color, and dental formula. Due to a lack of records, the real status of the species in the Mediterranean Sea remains questionable. Somniosus rostratus is rarely caught in this sea because it lives in deep bottoms poorly exploited by commercial vessels. However, recent captures of specimens and occurrence of nursery grounds suggest that a viable population of S. rostratus is probably established in this sea.
ISSN:0137-1592
1734-1515
DOI:10.3750/AIEP/02998