Author: (Ogilby, 1893)
Field Marks:
Short, blunt snout, high, sail-like dorsal fins with spines and broad apices, no anal fin, first dorsal spine inclined backward, high, thick, triangular body with large, rough denticles, circular spiracles, lanceolate upper teeth, lower bladelike teeth in less than 12 rows, uniform grey-brown coloration.
Diagnostic Features:
Spiracle small and circular. Supraorbital ridges not greatly expanded and not forming a knob in front of spiracles. Apices of dorsal fins broadly triangular, posterior margin straight or weakly concave; first dorsal spine inclined backward. Colour uniform grey-brown, without prominent markings.
Geographical Distribution:
Confined to temperate waters of the western South Pacific, off southern Australia (South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales) and New Zealand.
Habitat and Biology:
A little-known but fairly common deepwater bottom shark of the outer continental and insular shelves and uppermost slopes, at depths from 46 to 500 m. Ovoviviparous, a litter of 7 embryos reported for one female.
Size:
Maximum total length about 72 cm, adults males 60 cm, adults females 72 cm. Size at birth greater than 10 cm.
Interest to Fisheries:
None at present, taken incidentally in bottom trawlers but probably not used.
Type material:
Holotype: In Tasmanian Museum. Type Locality: Bruny Island, Tasmania.