Small-spotted catshark
Small-spotted catshark ( Scyliorhinus canicula )
The Kleingefleckte dogfish ( Scyliorhinus canicula ) is a small and oviparous shark species from the family of dogfish ( Scyliorhinidae ). He lives in the Mediterranean, the North Sea and on the west coast of North Africa to Senegal. Its name comes from its small stains and his feline eyes.
Features
Kleingefleckte dogfish are slim, have a wedge-shaped figure and can be up to 100 inches long; usually their length moves, however, between 60 and 80 cm, while the weight is approximately about 1000 to 1500 g. The age of the dogfish is at most eight years. Your skin consists of small, hard scales that feel like sandpaper. The top is brown spotted, while the underside is light and almost spotless. Unlike its closest relatives, the Großgefleckten dogfish, he has very small spots and a longer nose column, which runs until mouth. This is small and almost twice as wide as long. The black eyes are large and have the typical eye line of the dogfish. He only has a small dorsal fin that sits very far back. The five gills are far down and are barely visible.
Proliferation and threat
Their range extends from southwest Scandinavia UK and Spain to the coast of Senegal. They also live in the Mediterranean and the North Sea.
Kleingefleckte dogfish are quite numerous and not at risk in their area of distribution. Accordingly, the World Conservation Union IUCN leads the way in the red list of threatened species as not threatened (Least Concern ).
About the taste of their flesh divided in their opinions; so it is in some circles as a gourmet delicacy, while a large part of the gourmet attaches him no special taste. The liver is considered to be toxic.
Way of life
Although the nocturnal dogfish sharks are usually solitary, they are seen again and again in flocks of same-sex conspecifics. They live on the seabed up to 150 meters in depth, but also like to coastal areas. Especially younger Sharks do more often in shallow waters.
Reproduction
During pairing the two partners twine around each other, the male lead one of his two penises into the genital opening of the female, and injected into his sperm. A few weeks later the female lays 18-20 eggs in the shallow waters off. These are located in horny, yellowish capsules of 6 cm in length, the so-called Seemäusen (English " Mermaid's Purses "). The capsules are initially very transparent still and will always milky. Its shape is elongated and rectangular; at the four corners are rolled threads. If you roll out of these, they are about 1 meter long. They serve that the capsule caught on underwater plants or seaweed. During the development period 5-11 months the embryo sometimes makes swimming movements to pump fresh water through the permeable walls. Normally, only one embryo per sea mouse matures, but there is a famous case in which two sharks were discovered in a capsule. After five months, they have been successfully separated.
At hatching, the shark is about 10 cm long and still bears the remains of his yolk sac around and must from this point independently struggle to survive. With a length of 45 to 50 cm, the young shark will eventually mature.
Food
The Kleingefleckte dogfish chasing slow molluscs and animals that live on the seabed. It eats mainly shrimps, crabs, squid, octopus, worms, small fish and snails. With the help of thousands of electric sensors on his nose and a well- developed sense of smell, he can track his prey even in poor visibility. The sensors can sense the electromagnetic field of animals. For biting the shells of snails he uses his small, bristle- stick teeth.