Author: Garman, 1906
Field Marks:
Extremely long snout, no anal fin, grooved dorsal fin spines, compressed cutting teeth in both jaws, large pitchfork-shaped denticles, no subeaudal keel on underside of caudal peduncle.
Diagnostic Features:
First dorsal fin long and low, origin over bases of pectoral fins; distance from origin of first dorsal spine to first dorsal rear tip much greater than distance from free rear tip to second dorsal spine. No subeaudal keel on underside of caudal peduncle. Denticles very large, crowns length about 1 mm long. Colour blackish brown. Maximum size about 109 cm.
Geographical Distribution:
Eastern North Atlantic: Madeira.
Western North Pacific: Japan.
Habitat and Biology:
A little-known benthic and probably epibenthic dogfish of the insular slope of Madeira and Japan, caught at depths of 600 to 1000 m. Ovoviviparous, litter sizes not known but a female with 12 large eggs suggests moderate-sized litters. Food not recorded.
Size:
Maximum total length 109 cm; adults males reported 84 cm, females immature at 80 and 96 cm and adults at 106 to 109 cm.
Interest to Fisheries:
Minimal, caught with deepset vertical longlines (espada lines) off Madeira, utilization not reported.
Remarks:
This species has been synonymized with Deania calcea (as its synonym D. eglantina) by Bigelow and Schroeder (1957). Recently Cadenat and Blache (1981) named a new species, D. mauli, from Madeira, which chiefly differs from D. calcea in its much larger denticles and perhaps a darker coloration. However, reference to Garman (1906, 1913) shows that D. mauli agrees in its large denticles and coloration with D. histricosa and apparently has no significant differences from it. The two species are tentatively synonymized here and recognized as separate from D. calcea under the older name histricosa.
Type material:
Holotype: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, apparently lost. Type Locality: Japan.