Author: (Risso, 1810)

Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810)

Diagnosis: head distinctly depressed; eye small, more than 4 times in snout; first tooth at front of upper jaw, very small; third upper tooth followed by four very small teeth; teeth with two cusplets on each side of the base of main cusp. Second dorsal fin origin above or slightly behind anal fin origin; the hindmost point of second dorsal fin above anal fin base; anal fin slightly smaller than second dorsal fin. Colour: body light grey above, sometimes with irregular dark blotches, whitish below; margins of both dorsal fins, pelvic and anal fins very dark grey; lower edge of caudal fin almost black. Size: to about 3.6 m.

Habitat: epipelagic or benthic on continental and insular shelves and slopes, from 13 to 420 m. Food: predator on fishes, squids, crustaceans. Reproduction: probably ovoviviparous; males mature at 2.75 m, females at 3.60 m; size at birth about 1.05 m.

Distribution: eastern Atlantic, from Morocco to Gulf of Biscay, als Mediterranean. Elsewhere, western Indian Ocean, western central an eastern Pacific (possibly cosmopolitan).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Odontaspindidae
Genus Odontaspis
Species Odontaspis ferox

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810)

Synonyms:

Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810)
Squalus ferox Risso, 1810, Ichthyologie de Nice: 38, pl . G (fig. 1) (off Nice, France). Type unknown.
Carcharias ferox: Risso, 1826: 119-122 Maul, 1955: 1-3, fig. 5-8 Lozano Rey, 1928: 402 405, fig. 128A & 133 Tortonese, 1956: 103-104, fig. 52.
Odontaspis ferox: Bonaparte, 1839: tav. 134, fig. 2 Albuquerque, 1954-1956: 81-82, fig. 45A & 46A Moreau, 1881: 293-295, fig. 39 Müller & Henle, 1841: 74 Soljan, 1948 (Eng. trans. 1963: 59) Quéro, 1972 :195 Capapé, 1975 :108, fig. 1.
Odontaspis herbsti Whitley, 1950

Common names:

Smalltooth sand tiger [En]
fierce shark [En]
Requin feroce [Fr]
odontaspide féroce [Fr]
Stierhai [De]
Solrayo [Es]
sobrayo [Es]
kars [Ar]
skylopsaro [He]
morski pas [Hr]
cagnaccio [It]

Albuquerque, R. M. 1954-1956. Peixes de Portugal e ilhas adjacentes. Chavas para a sua determinação. Port. Acta biol., ser. B,5:xvi+1167 p., 445 fig.

Bonaparte, C. L. 1832-41, Iconografia della Fauna italica per le quattro classi degli Animali Vertebrati, tomo III, Pesci, Roma, without pagination, 75 puntate (in 30 fasc.), 78 pl.

Capapé, C. 1975. Selaciens nouveaux et rares le long des cotes tunisiennes. Premieres observations biologiques. Arch. Inst. Pasteur, Tunis, 52 (1-2) :107-128, 5 fig.

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

Maul, G. E. 1955b. Five species of rare sharks new for Madeira including two new to science. Notul. Nat., Philad., (279) :1-13, 20 fig.

Moreau, E.1881-91. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: I-VII+ 1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881:1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881:1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Muller, J.; Henle, J.1841. Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Berlin, xxii+204 p., 60 pl.

Quéro, J.C. 1972. Observations franaises sur les poissons rares en 1970. Annls biol. Cons. Perm. int. Explor. Mer, 27,1970 :195.

Risso, A.1810. Ichthyologie de Nice, ou histoire naturelle des poissons du département des Alpes Maritimes. Paris, xxxvi+388 p., 11 pl. (Reprint, 1966, Asher, Amsterdam.)

Risso, A.1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes. Paris et Strasbourg, vol. III, XVI+486 p., 16 pl.

Soljan, T. 1948. Fauna i flora jadrana. 1. Ribe Inst. Oceanogr. Ribarst. Jugoslavia. Zagreb, Hrvatske, 437 p., 1350 fig.

Tortonese, E. 1956b. Leptocardia, Ciclostomata, Selachii. Fauna Ital., 2: 334 p., 163 fig.

Whitley, G. P. 1950b. New fish names. Proc. R. zool. Soc. N.S.W., 1948-49 [1950]: 44.

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