Author: (Lowe, 1839)

Etmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)

Diagnosis: snout broad, bluntly rounded, narrowing at nostrils, the latter equidistant between snout tip and eye, which is large, posterior corner above angle of mouth. Mouth with deep groove posteriorly from corner, labial folds short. Upper teeth tri-cuspid, medial cusp much larger; lower teeth oblique, strongly angled posteriorly. Gill-slits progressively smaller. Second dorsal fin spine curved, its length almost reaching apex of fin; second dorsal spine behind pelvic fin bases, free tip of pelvic fins slightly behind dorsal spine; caudal fin short, upper tip truncate, sub-terminal notch poorly developed, lower lobe moderately developed. Dermal denticles crater-shaped without medial spine. Colour: brown above, black below, a pale spot between eyes; margins of dorsal and pectoral fins light. Size: ? some still immature at 50 cm.

Habitat: benthic on slopes, 300 1,000 m in subtropical and tropical waters. Food: fishes and cephalopods. Reproduction: ?ovoviviparous.

Distribution: In Clofnam area off Portugal, Madeira and the Azores. Elsewhere, southward into tropical West African waters; also, western Atlantic (including Gulf of Mexico, off Brazil and Argentina) and off Japan.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Squalidae
Genus Etmopterus
Species Etmopterus pusillus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Etmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Etmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)

Synonyms:

Etmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)
Acanthidium pusillum Lowe, 1839, Proc. zool. Soc. Lond., 7: 91-92 (off Madeira). Two syntypes: BMNH no. 1855.11.29.27.
Centrina nigra (non Cuvier, 1817) Lowe, 1833, Proc. zool. Soc. Lond., 1:144 (off Madeira). No type material. Specific name preoccupied.
Spinax pusillus: Günther, 1870: 425 Vaillant, 1888: 72 Regan, 1908: 44.
Etmopterus pusillus: Goode & Bean, 1896: 10-11, part. Roule, 1912: 16, 25-26, 30-31 Tanaka, 1912: 88-91, pl. XXII (fig. 8488) Garman, 1913: 228-229 Roule, 1919: 122 Lozano Rey, 1928: 464-467, fig. ISSB, b, c Nobre, 1935: 459 Fowler, 1936: 81-82, fig. 28 Bigelow et al., 1955: 2-5, fig. 1; 1957: 48-50, 61 Krefft, 1968a: 9-13, fig. 3b, 5b, 6; 1968b: 54-57, pl. III (fig. B).
Etmopterus frontimaculatus Pietschmann, 1907, Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien., 44: 395-396 (Sagami Sea, Japan). One syntype NMW no. 61473.
Etmopterus frontimaculatus: Pietschmann, 1908: 654-658, fig. 1-2, pl. I (fig. 2), pl. II (fig. 2) Bigelow & Schroeder, 1957: 58, 61.

Common names:

Smooth lanternshark [En]
Sagre nain [Fr]

*Nobre, A. 1935. Fauna marinha de Portugal. 1. Vertebrados (Mamiferos, Reptis e Peixes), Porto.: Ixxxiv+1-21 (Mamiferos); 1-5 (Reptis); 1-574 (Peixes), 77 pl., 64 phot.

*Tanaka, S. 1912. Figures and descriptions of the fishes of Japan, including Riukiu Islands, Bonin Islands, Formosa, Kurile Islands, Korea and Southern Sakhalin. Tokyo, 6: 87-108, pl. 26-30.

Bigelow, H. B.; Schroeder, W. C. 1957. A study of the sharks of the suborder Squaloidea. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 117 (1) :1-150, fig. 1-16, pl. IIV.

Bigelow, H. B.; Schroeder, W. C.; Springer, S.1955. Three new shark records from the Gulf of Mexico. Breviora, (49) :1-12, fig. 1-2.

Fowler, H. W.1936. The Marine Fishes of West Africa, based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-15. Bull. am. Mus. nat. Hist., 70 (1), Jan. 21, 1936: vii+606 p., fig. 1-275; (2), Nov. 18,1936: 607-1493, fig. 276-567.

Garman, S. 1913. The Plagiostomia (Sharks, Skates, and Rays). Mem. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 36: xiii+528 p., 77 pl.

Goode, G. B.; Bean, T. H. 1896. Oceanic ichthyology, a treatise on the deep-sea and pelagic fishes of the world, based chiefly upon the collections made by steamers Blake, Albatross and Fish Hawk in the northwestern Atlantic. Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., 30 and Spec. Bull U.S. natn. Mus., 1895 [1896] and Mem. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 1 (Text): xxxv+1-553; 2 (Atlas): xxiii+1-26, 123 pl., 417 fig.

Gunther, A.1870. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. 8. Catalogue of the Physostomi containing the families Gymnotidae, Symbranchidae, Muraenidae, Pegasidae and of the Lophobranchii, Plectognathi, Dipnoi, Ganoidei, Chondropterygii, Cyclostomata, Leptocardii in the collection of the British Museum. London, xxv+549 p.

Krefft, G.1968a. Neue und erstmalig nachgewiesene Knorpelfische aus dem Archibenthal des Südwestatlantiks, einschliesslich einer Diskussion einiger Etmopterus-Arten südlicher Meere. Arch. FischWiss., 19 (1) :1-42, fig. 1-18.

Krefft, G.1968b. Knorpelfische (Chondrichthyes) aus dem tropischen Ostatlantik. Atlantide Rep., (10): 33-76, pl. III-VI.

Lowe, R. T.1833. Description of a new genus of acanthopterygian fishes, Alepisaurus ferox. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond ,1:104.

Lowe, R. T.1839. A supplement to a synopsis of the Fishes of Madeira. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 7: 76-92 (also publ. in Trans. zool. Soc. Lond., 1842, 3 (1) :1-20).

Lozano y Rey, L.1928. Fauna Ibérica. Pesces (Generalidades, Ciclóstomos y Elasmobranquios). Mus. Nac. Ciencias Nat., Madrid, 1:1-692,197 fig., 20 pl.

Pietschmann, V. 1908a. Japanische Plagiostomen. Sber. Akad. Wiss., Wien, math. nat. Kl., Abt. I, 117 (6): 637-709, fig. 1-14, pl. I-II.

Regan, C. T.1908c. A synopsis of sharks of the family Squalidae. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (8) 2: 39-57.

Roule, L. 1912. Notice sur les sélaciens conservés dans les collections du Musée Océanographique. Bull. Inst. océanogr., Monaco, (243): 36 p.

Roule, L. 1919. Poissons provenant des campagnes du yacht 'Princesse Alice' (1891-1913) et du yacht 'Hirondelle II' (1914). Résult. Camp. scient. Prince Albert 1, 52: 191 p., 7 pl.

Vaillant, L. 1888. Poissons in Expéditions scientifiques du 'Travailleur' et du 'Talisman' pendant les années 1880-83. Masson, Paris, 406 p., 28 pl.

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