Centroscyllium ritteri

Author: Jordan and Fowler, 1903

Field Marks:
No anal fin, grooved dorsal fin spines, teeth with narrow cusps and cusplets in upper and lower jaws, abrupt black markings on underside of body.

Diagnostic Features:
Body moderately stout and compressed. Preoral snout moderately long, about 2/3 of distance from mouth to pectoral origins; mouth very broadly arched, less than a third as long as wide. Second dorsal fin about as large as first; pectoral apices when laid back ending well anterior to first dorsal spine origin. Caudal peduncle elongated, distance from second dorsal insertion to upper caudal origin about as long as distance from eye to pectoral origins. Lateral trunk denticles close-set, conical and with hooked cusps. Colour grey-brown above, abruptly blackish on underside of head and abdomen, with a black stripe on underside of caudal peduncle extending over pelvic bases (black areas include concentrations of photoohores): fins white-edged. Size moderate, adults to 43 cm.

Geographical Distribution:
Western North Pacific: Japan (southeastern Honshu).

Habitat and Biology:
A little-known distinctive deepwater dogfish, biology almost totally unknown.

Size:
Maximum total length about 43 cm, females mature at 42 or 43 cm.

Interest to Fisheries:
Apparently none.

Type material:
Holotype: Stanford University SU-7185, 430 mm immature female. Type Locality: Misaki, Japan.

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