Viper dogfish
Viper dogfish ( Trigonognathus kabeyai )
The viper dogfish ( Trigonognathus kabeyai ) is the only species of the genus Trigonognathus within the lantern sharks ( subfamily Etmopterinae; Etmopteridae classified as a family ). The small shark reaches a body length of about 54 centimeters and comes in the deep sea in the central Pacific Ocean off Hawaii and the North Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan before.
Appearance and characteristics
The viper dogfish is a small shark with a body length of up to 54 centimeters. He has a typical for the lantern sharks elongated body with a long and wide at the same time and on the upper side flattened head. This is striking, " snake-like " with big eyes and very long, fang -like curved and pointed teeth. Both jaws are very strong move. The body color is brown on the upper side and black on the belly side. He also has the typical for the lantern sharks light organs that lie with him as dark markings on the ventral side and tail fins stalk.
It has no anal fin and two dorsal fins with the regulatory typical spines before the dorsal fin, which are strongly developed and sharp. The first dorsal fin begins well beyond the end of the pectoral fins and is about as large as the second dorsal fin. Like all species of the family owned pets five gill slits and have a spray hole behind the eye, which is large and diagonal slit-shaped in this species.
Dissemination
The range of the species is located in the Central North Pacific to the exact extent is unknown. He is regularly fished off the coasts of Japan as bycatch, an individual was captured in the central Pacific Ocean off Hawaii.
Way of life
The viper dogfish live in coastal areas over the continental shelf and is found at depths of 330-360 meters. Like other sharks it feeds predatory, due to its fang -like teeth and the very wide-opening jaw probably mainly of relatively large fish, crustaceans and molluscs, which are swallowed whole.
About his life are no data and observations. He is like other species of the order most likely viviparous ( ovoviviparous ), lacking further information on propagation.
Endangering
The viper dogfish is not associated hazard category of the IUCN Red List due to missing data. Because of its limited distribution area and the rare finds he is regarded as rare deep-sea sharks and should be examined at a magnification of fishing pressure in its distribution area targeted to a decline according to the IUCN. He has worked as a food fish no meaning and is accordingly no directed fishing. Occasionally, however, it is taken as bycatch in bottom-set net fisheries.