Pinocchio Catshark, Apristurus australis Sato, Nakaya & Yorozu 2008
A Pinocchio Catshark, Apristurus australis, from the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea. Source: Kerryn Parkinson / NORFANZ founding parties. License: All rights reserved
Summary:
A greyish to pale brown catshark with a very long, narrow snout, a low, very long-based anal fin, no naked patches between the pelvic and pectoral fins, relatively small teeth, and velvety skin. The species has a slightly darker brown throat, and pale margins on the anal, pelvic and pectoral fins, the rear margin of the caudal fin, and outer tips of the dorsal fins.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2023, Apristurus australis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 13 Oct 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2615
Pinocchio Catshark, Apristurus australis Sato, Nakaya & Yorozu 2008
More Info
Distribution |
Widespread in Australia, from off north Queensland, around southern Australia to off Shark Bay, Western Australia. The species is benthopelagic on the continental slope and around seamounts. |
Features |
Vertebrae 32-34 (monospondylus) Snout elongated, very slender, preoral length more than 4 times eye diameter and longer than wide, flattened and slightly bell-shaped anterior to nostrils; teeth tine with fine basal ridges, closely set, with mostly 5 cusps in anterior teeth and 7 cusps in lateral teeth; pectoral fin large. |
Biology |
Biology and ecology poorly known. Reproductive mode - oviparous. Males mature at about 45–50 cm TL and females at about 45–55 cm TL. Females lay egg capsules that taper toward the posterior tip and lack coiled tendrils on both the anterior and posterior ends. |
Fisheries |
The species is discarded a bycatch of trawl fisheries off southeastern Australia (where large areas of its range are closed to trawling). |
Etymology |
The specific name is from the Latin australis (= southern), in reference to the geographic distribution of this species - the southern hemisphere around Australia. |
Species Citation |
Apristurus australis Sato, Nakaya & Yorozu 2008, in Last, White & Pogonoski (eds) CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper No. 022: 114, figs 1-7. Type locality: East of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 33°44'-43'S, 151°53-54'E, depth 486-509 m. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2023 |
Resources |
Pinocchio Catshark, Apristurus australis Sato, Nakaya & Yorozu 2008
References
Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. & Fowler, S. 2005. A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World. London : Collins 368 pp. (Apristurus sp. G)
Kyne, P.M., Cavanagh, R.D. & Lisney, T.J. 2016. Apristurus australis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T42704A68608780. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T42704A68608780.en. Downloaded on 05 June 2017.
Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Canberra : CSIRO Australia 513 pp. 84 pls. (Apristurus sp. G)
Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Australia 2, 550 pp.
Patterson, H. & Bath, A. 2015. South Tasman Rise Trawl Fishery, pp. 288-292. In: Patterson, H., Georgeson, L., Stobutzki, I. & Curtotti, R. (eds) Fishery Status Reports 2015, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
Patterson, H., Georgeson, L., Stobutzki, I. & Curtotti, R. 2015. Fishery Status Reports 2015. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
Sato, K., Nakaya, K. & Yorozu, M. 2008. Apristurus australis sp. nov., a new long-snout catshark (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae) from Australia. pp. 113-122 in Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (eds). Descriptions of new Australian chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper No. 022: 1-358. http://hdl.handle.net/102.100.100/118353?index=1
Walker, T.I. & Gason, A.S. 2007. Shark and other chondrichthyan byproduct and bycatch estimation in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery. Final report to Fisheries and Research Development Corporation Project No. 2001/007. July 2007. vi + 182 pp. Primary Industries Research Victoria, Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia.
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. (as Apristurus sp. 5)