''Somniosus'' is a widely distributed

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of deepwater dogfish sharks in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Somniosidae The Somniosidae are a family of sharks in the order Squaliformes, commonly known as sleeper sharks. The common name "''sleeper shark''" comes from their slow swimming, low activity level, and perceived non-aggressive nature. Distribution and hab ...

. Several members of the genus are believed to attain lengths up to , thus ranking among the largest of sharks.

Species

* ''

Somniosus antarcticus The southern sleeper shark, or Whitley's sleeper shark (''Somniosus antarcticus''), is a deepwater benthopelagic sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the southern and subantarctic extremes of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, ...

'' Whitley, 1939 (southern sleeper shark) * '' Somniosus cheni'' Hsu, Lin, & Joung, 2020 (Taiwan sleeper shark) * †''

Somniosus gonzalezi ''Somniosus gonzalezi'' is an extinct species of sleeper shark that lived during the Oligocene epoch Rupelian to Chattian stages. The species was described from teeth fossils found in the Pysht Formation of Washington states Olympic Peninsul ...

'' Welton & Goedert, 2016 – fossil,

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

* ''

Somniosus longus The frog shark (''Somniosus longus'') is a very rare species of squaliform shark mainly found in deep water in the Pacific Ocean. It is in the sleeper shark family Somniosidae, along with the Greenland shark. Description The frog shark is known ...

Tanaka is the fourth most common Japanese surname. It is typically written with the kanji for . Less common variants include , , , , and . People with the surname *, Japanese musician formerly known as Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi *, Japanese voice actres ...

, 1912 (frog shark) * ''

Somniosus microcephalus The Greenland shark (''Somniosus microcephalus''), also known as the gurry shark or grey shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific sleeper shark, Pacific and southern sleeper sharks. Inh ...

'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter *Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter *Alfred Bloch ( ...

& J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Greenland shark) * '' Somniosus pacificus'' Bigelow &

Schroeder __NOTOC__ Schroeder is a North German (from Schröder) occupational name for a cloth cutter or tailor, from an agent derivative of Middle Low German , "to cut". The same term was occasionally used to denote a gristmiller as well as a shoemaker, wh ...

, 1944 (Pacific sleeper shark) * ''

Somniosus rostratus The little sleeper shark (''Somniosus rostratus'') is a small sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the northeast Atlantic, western Mediterranean, and western Pacific around New Zealand (though these records may be of another species ...

'' A. Risso, 1827 (little sleeper shark) * ''Somniosus'' sp. A Not yet described (longnose sleeper shark) Image:Somniosus microcephalus okeanos.jpg , ''

'' Image:Somniosus pacificus noaa2.jpg, '' Somniosus pacificus'' Image:Somniosus rostratus adult JGF.jpg, ''

'' Image:Somniosus antarcticus.jpg, ''

References

{{Authority control Extant Oligocene first appearances Shark genera Taxa named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur

Species

See also

References