Black Shark, Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre 1788)

Other Names: Kitefin Shark, Seal Shark

Summary:

A uniformly blackish deepwater shark with a short, blunt snout, fleshy lips, large triangular serrated teeth in the lower jaw, small, narrow and awl-shaped with smooth edges in the lower jaw and no fin spines.

This species is the largest known bioluminescent vertebrate, and is the first known shark to have fully luminous dorsal fins.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2024, Dalatias licha in Fishes of Australia, accessed 04 Oct 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2008

Black Shark, Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre 1788)

More Info

Distribution	Off Swains Reefs, Queensland, throughout southern Australia to near Rowley Shoals, Western Australia; also the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species is widespread with a patchy distribution in the Atlantic and Indo-West Central Pacific. Inhabits the continental shelf and slope in depths of 37-1800 m, although mostly in 450-850 m in Australian waters.
Features	Vertebrae 75–85 (47–55 precaudal) Preoral length 4–8% TL; upper teeth smooth-edged, thorn-like, on broad bifid bases, curved rearwards, outwardly oblique; lower jaw teeth triangular, serrate, on square bifid bases, lateral teeth notched on outer side, each overlapping next outer tooth.
Size	Reaches 1.8+ m TL, although individuals are commonly about 120 cm TL.
Colour	Uniformly violet-black to dark grey or brown, with pale lips, green eyes, and pale or translucent trailing edges on the fins.
Feeding	Feeds on small demersal sharks such as lanternsharks, gulpersharks and catsharks, along with demersal bony fishes, crustaceans, and cephalopod molluscs.
Biology	Like all sharks, the sexes are separate and fertilization is external. Kitefin sharks are live bearers, and reproduction is lecithotrophic viviparous. Males mature ~100 cm TL; females mature ~120 cm TL; size at birth 30-40 cm TL; litter size is 3-16 pups (average 6-8).
Fisheries	Taken as incidental bycatch in midwater and benthic trawl, surface and benthic longline, and in setnet fisheries throughout its range.
Conservation	IUCN Red List : Vulnerable
Remarks	Black Sharks have asymmetrical teeth. The upper jaw teeth are small, narrow and awl-shaped with smooth edges. The larger lower jaw teeth are erect and broadly triangular, with serrate cusps and overlapping bases. This arrangement enables them to gouge out chunks of flesh from large fast swimming epipelagic fishes - like the related cookiecutter sharks.
Etymology	The specific name licha is based on 'La Liche' of Broussonet, 1784, the first account of this species.
Species Citation	Squalus licha Bonnaterre 1788. Tableau Encyclopédique et Méthodique des trois Règnes de la Nature. Ichthyologie: 12. Type locality: Le Cap Breton, southern France.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2024
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Black Shark, Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre 1788)

References

Bonnaterre, J.P. 1788. Tableau Encyclopédique et Méthodique des trois Règnes de la Nature. Ichthyologie. Paris. pp. 1-215, 102 pls

Broussonet, P.M.A. 1784. Mémoire sur les différentes espèces de chiens de mer. Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris (for 1780): 641-680. (as 'La Liche')

Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125. Rome : FAO Vol. 4(1) pp. 1-249.

Compagno, L.J.V. & Cook, S.F. 1996. Status of the kitefin shark Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre 1788). Shark News.

Compagno, L.J.V. & Cook, S.F. 2005. Kitefin shark Dalatias licha. In: S.L. Fowler, R.D. Cavanagh, M. Camhi, G.H. Burgess, G.M. Cailliet, S.V. Fordham, C.A. Simpfendorfer and J.A. Musick (eds), Sharks, rays and chimaeras: The status of chondrichthyan fishes, IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Compagno, L.J.V. & Niem, V.H. 1998. Hexanchidae, Echinorhinidae, Squalidae. pp. 1208-1232 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 2 687-1396 pp.

Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. & Fowler, S. 2005. A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World. London : Collins 368 pp.

Finucci, B., Walls, R.H.L., Guallart, J. & Kyne, P.M. 2018. Dalatias licha. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T6229A3111662. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T6229A3111662.en. Accessed on 30 September 2024.

Garrick, J.A.F. 1960. Studies on New Zealand Elasmobranchii. Part XI — Squaloids of the genera Deania, Etmopterus, Oxynotus and Dalatias in New Zealand waters. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 88(3): 489-517 figs 1-8 pl. 26

Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Canberra : CSIRO Australia 513 pp. 84 pls.

Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Australia 2, 550 pp.

Mallefet, J., Stevens, D.W. & Duchatelet, L. 2021. Bioluminescence of the largest luminous vertebrate, the Kitefin Shark, Dalatias licha: First insights and comparative aspects. Frontiers in Marine Science 8: 633582. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.633582

Matallanas, J. 1982. Feeding habits of Scymnorhinus licha in Catalan waters. Journal of Fish Biology 20: 155–163. https://doi.oeg/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1982.tb03916.x

McCulloch, A.R. 1915. Report on some fishes obtained by the F.I.S. Endeavour on the coasts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South and South-Western Australia. Part 3. Biological Results Endeavour 3(3): 97–170 figs 1–3 pls 13–37

Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961]

Navarro, J., López, L., Coll, M., Barría, C. & Sáez-Liante, R. 2014. Short- and long-term importance of small sharks in the diet of the rare deep-sea shark Dalatias licha. Marine Biology 161: 1697–1707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2454-2

Rafinesque, C.S. 1810. Caratteri di alcuni Nouvi Generi e Nouve Specie di Animali e Piante della Sicilia con varie Osservazioni sopra i Medesimi. Sanfilippo, Palermo 105, pl. 1-20 (described as Dalatias sparophagus, type locality - Sicily).

Stead, D.G. 1963. Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 211 pp. 63 figs.

Stevens, J.D. 1994. Families Echinorhinidae, Squalidae, Oxynotidae, Parascyllidae, Orectolobidae. pp. 91-118 figs 28-73 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

White, W. 2008. Shark Families Heterodontidae to Pristiophoridae. pp. 32-100 in Gomon. M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Whitley, G.P. 1931. New names for Australian fishes. The Australian Zoologist 6(4): 310-334 1 fig. pls 25-27 (described as Scymnorhinus phillippsi, type locality - Great Australian Bight)

Whitley, G.P. 1940. The Fishes of Australia. Part 1. The sharks, rays, devil-fish, and other primitive fishes of Australia and New Zealand. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. 280 pp. 303 figs. (as Scymnorhinus phillippsi, figure of holotype)

Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 (as Scimnus phillippsi)