Longnose pygmy shark

Taxobox
name = Longnose pygmy shark


image_caption =
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
trend =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
ordo = Squaliformes
familia = Dalatiidae
subfamilia = Dalatiinae
genus = "Heteroscymnoides"
genus_authority = Fowler, 1934
species = "H. marleyi"
range_

---

range_map_width = 200px
range_map_caption = Range of longnose pygmy shark (in blue)
binomial = "Heteroscymnoides marleyi"
binomial_authority = Fowler, 1934The longnose pygmy shark, "Heteroscymnoides marleyi", is a sleeper shark of the family Dalatiidae, the only member of the genus "Heteroscymnoides", found in the tropical southeast Atlantic and western Indian oceans, at depths down to 500 m. Its length is up to 29 cm.

The longnose pygmy shark is a cylindrical, dwarf dogfish shark with a long bulbous snout, small round eyes, and small gill slits. The caudal fin is paddle-shaped, and the ventral surface is covered with minute photophores.

It is probably oceanic. The holotype was caught off a beach, but a second specimen was taken in the Atlantic at night between the surface and 502 m. Food is unknown but may subsist on pelagic fish and invertebrates. It is probably ovoviviparous with very few young.

Coloration is dark brown with conspicuous light-edged fins.

References

*

External links

* [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/44515/all IUCN]