The bristly catshark (''Bythaelurus hispidus'') iis a species of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

belonging to 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 ...

Pentanchidae Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks, is a family of sharks belonging to the order Carcharhiniformes Carcharhiniformes ( from Classical Greek ' (karcharos) 'sharp/jagged' and ' (rhinos) 'nose', plus Latin ''forme'' 'shape'), commonly known a ...

, the deepwater catsharks. This shark is found from southeastern India and the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

, between

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

s 15° N and 5° N, at depths between 200 and 300 m. Its length usually ranges from around , and it is regarded as the smallest catshark of ''Bythaelurus''.

Taxonomy

Bristly catsharks were first discovered by

Alfred William Alcock Alfred William Alcock (23 June 1859 in Bombay – 24 March 1933 in Belvedere, Kent) was a British physician, naturalist, and carcinologist. Early life and education Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who re ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

in 1891. The specific word, hispidus, is thought to represent the papillae that generally appeared in species live in Andaman Sea. However, it was not named as ''alcockii''. Instead, the species named ''Halaelurus alcockii'', also known as ''Bythaelurus alcockii'', is another kind of catshark commonly known as Arabian catshark discovered by a German in 1913.

Appearance and habitat

The bristly catshark is a small species among the shark family, and as the name suggests, it has lengthened, cat-like eyes on the side that help it to be easily distinguished. The long abdomen, rounded snout with a parabolic knoblike tip, and short wrinkle labial also differentiate it from other catsharks. Instead of having patterned appearance like most other catsharks do, the bristly catshark has no dark spots nor colored stripes. There are three more species of ''Halaelurus'' share this characteristic: ''canescens'', ''dawsoni'', and ''lutarius'', while the bristly catshark is usually in pale brown or white color. Among these three species, bristly catsharks relate the ''H. lutarius'' the most. They share many similarities, except that bristly catsharks are a little smaller with larger eyes. Also, bristly catsharks were found to have papillae on the tongue, while the ''H. lutarius'' lack the presence of papillae. The bristly catsharks live in the deep sea and are restricted to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and the

on the

outer continental shelf The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a legally defined geographic feature of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the ind ...

and upper continental slope at 250–1262 m.

Reproduction

The diameter of the eggs ranges from 2-4 mm in female with functional but immature ovary; 15–21 mm in female with well-developed ovary.

Feeding

Young bristly catsharks prey on crustaceans more often, such as deep-sea mud shrimp, than other fishes, but further observation is needed to better understand the forage structure of bristly catsharks.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:catshark, bristly bristly catshark Palk Strait Fauna of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands bristly catshark