Fringefin Lantern Shark
Etmopterus schultzi
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Sharks and rays
The fringefin lanternshark is a shark of the family Etmopteridae found in the western central Atlantic from Texas to Florida, northern Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. It is endemic to this area. It is a deep water shark and is found about 220 to 915 meters below the surface, on the upper continental slopes of the Gulf. E. schultzi is a small shark, about 27–30 cm long and feeds on squid. It is also bioluminescent, which counter-illuminates it and helps with intraspecific interaction. Due to its limited range and the difficulty of collecting deep water species, it has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, but due to recent oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, it is likely that fringefin lanternsharks have decreased in population.
Classification
- Class
- Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Squaliformes
- Family
- Etmopteridae
- Genus
- Etmopterus