Author: (Alcock, 1889)
Field Marks:
No anal fin, grooved dorsal fin spines, teeth with narrow cusps and cusplets in upper and lower jaws, uniform dark coloration, short abdomen and short caudal peduncle, close-set denticles on body.
Diagnostic Features:
Body moderately stout and compressed. Preoral snout moderately long, about half of distance from mouth to pectoral origins; mouth narrowly arched, nearly half as high as wide. Second dorsal fin somewhat larger than first; pectoral apices when laid back ending about opposite to first dorsal spine origin. Caudal peduncle moderately long, distance from second dorsal insertion to upper caudal origin about as long as distance from eye to third gill slits. Lateral trunk denticles close-set, conical and with hooked cusps. Colour blackish, without white fin tips or prominent black markings on underside of body and sides of tail. Size moderate, adults to about 50 cm.
Geographical Distribution:
Northern Indian Ocean: Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
Habitat and Biology:
A little-known deepwater dogfish from the upper continental slopes of India near bottom at depths from 521 to 1262 m.
Size:
Maximum total length to 30 cm (immature?).
Interest to Fisheries: None.
Remarks:
The writer examined two of the syntypes and other material of this species in the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, in 1982. The illustration is a reconstruction based on the syntypes and other data.
Type material:
Syntypes: Three syntypes, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, ZSI 11664 and 11666 damaged, about 120 mm; and ZSI 11665 (now in British Museum (Natural History) collection). Type Locality: Bay of Bengal, Swatch of No-ground, 741 to 522 m.