Spined Pygmy Shark
Squaliolus laticaudus
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Sharks and rays
The spined pygmy shark is a species of squaliform shark in the family Dalatiidae found widely in all oceans. Growing no larger than roughly 28 cm (11 in), it is one of the smallest sharks alive, with this record beaten by the dwarf lanternshark. This shark has a slender, cigar-shaped body with a sizable conical snout, a long but low second dorsal fin, and an almost symmetrical caudal fin. Its sister species S. aliae and it are the only sharks with a spine on the first dorsal fin and not the second. Spined pygmy sharks are dark brown to black, with numerous bioluminescent organs called photophores on their ventral surface. The shark is believed to use these photophores to match ambient light conditions, which break up its silhouette and help the shark to avoid being seen by predators below.
Classification
- Class
- Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Squaliformes
- Family
- Dalatiidae
- Genus
- Squaliolus