Author: (Saemundsson, 1922)

Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)

Diagnosis: body short, the distance tip of snout to cloaca slightly shorter than the distance cloaca to rear end of caudal fin; head and snout relatively short, snout less than 80% TL; length of eye opening less than least distance between nostrils. Dorsal fins nearly equal; origin of first dorsal fin over or slightly behind middle of pelvic fin's base; anal fin long, extending from tips of pelvic fins nearly or completely to origin of lower caudal fin lobe; anal fin base equal to or greater than distance from tip of snout to first gill opening and greater than distance between dorsal fin bases. Colour: uniformly dark grey above and reddish below. Size: to 68 cm (male) or 67 cm (female).

Habitat: benthic on upper continental and island slopes at about 550-1,500 m.

Distribution: eastern Atlantic continental slope northward to Iceland. Elsewhere, south to Senegal, also western North Atlantic (Massachusetts Delaware, northern Gulf of Mexico).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Scyliorhinidae
Genus Apristurus
Species Apristurus laurussonii

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)

Synonyms:

Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)
Scyllium laurussonii Saemundsson, 1922, Zoologiske Meddelelser fra Island. XIV. Fiske, ny for Island, og supplerende Oplysninger om andre, tidligere kendte. Vidensk. Meddr dansk naturh. Foren. Kjöbenhavn, 74: 173, pl. 4 (fig. 1), pl. 5 (fig. 3) (Saemundsson's identification of figures p. 173 and p. 200 are not correct; fig. 1-2 on pl. 4, and fig. 3-4 on pl. 5 are reversed). Holotype: NHMR (Vestmannaeyjar off south coast of Iceland).
Scylliorhinus atlanticus: Koefoed, 1927: 18, pl. 3 (fig. 3) (off Canary Islands) (nec Vaillant, 1888).
Apristurus laurussonii: Springer, 1966: 615, fig. 24-25 Wheeler, 1969: 43.


Common names:

Iceland catshark [En]
Roussette d'lslande [Fr]
Pejegato de Islandia [Es]

Koefoed, E. 1927. Fishes from the Sea-Bottom. Rep. scient. Results Michael Sars N. Atlant. deep Sea Exped., [tittle page: 1927,1932], 4 (1): 148 p., 55 fig., 6 pl.

Saemundsson, B. 1922. Zoologiske Meddelelser fra Island. XIV. Vidensk. Meddr dansk naturh. Foren., Kjøbenhavn, 74 :159-201, pl. III-V.

Springer, S. 1966. A review of western Atlantic cat sharks, Scyliorhinidae, with descriptions of a new genus and five new species. Fishery Bull., Fish Wildl Serv. U.S., 65 (3): 581-624, 27 fig.

Wheeler, A. 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Macmillan, London, Melbourne and Toronto: i-xvii+1-163, 5+177 fig., +392 fig. (princ. sp.)+92 n. num. fig., 16 pl., maps.

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