The southern Mandarin dogfish (''Cirrhigaleus australis'') is a species of Mandarin
dogfish shark
Squalidae, more commonly known as dogfish, dog sharks, or spiny dogfish, are one of several families of sharks categorized under Squaliformes, making it the second largest order of sharks, numbering 119 species across 7 families. Having earned ...
in the genus ''
Cirrhigaleus
''Cirrhigaleus'' is a genus of sharks in the Squalidae (dogfish) family (biology), family, which is part of the Squaliformes order.
Species
* ''Cirrhigaleus asper'' Nigel Merrett, Merrett, 1973 (roughskin spurdog)
* ''Cirrhigaleus australis'' ...
''. It was distinguished from ''
Cirrhigaleus barbifer
The mandarin dogfish (''Cirrhigaleus barbifer'') is a Squaliformes, dogfish, a member of the family (biology), family Squalidae in the order Squaliformes. It is found at depths of off southern Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia (Bali and Lombok). Pop ...
'', which lives in the North Pacific, on an expedition in the
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...
s near
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in 2007. It is now known to live in the temperate waters in south-eastern Australia and from the Bay of Plenty region in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, at depths of 146–640 metres.
[New Mandarin shark Discovered]
". Practical Fishkeeping. Retrieved on 1008-10-17.
Physical characteristics
It is medium-sized and robust compared to other dogfish. It is grey-brown above and pale below. The posterior margins of the
pectoral
Pectoral may refer to:
* The chest region and anything relating to it.
* Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest
* a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget
* Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt
* Pectora ...
and
pelvic fin
Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...
s are white. This species of shark normally grow less than a metre long, but have been known to reach 1.25 metres.
[ C. australis has smaller eyes, ]pectoral fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...
s, dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...
s, and spine than its cousin. The first dorsal fin is medium-sized and slightly raked. The second is similarly shaped, but a bit smaller. The pectoral fins are fairly large. Both dorsal spines are long. It also has strangely long barbels
In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the z ...
, giving it the name "Mandarin". There are about 115 centra
Centra is a convenience shop chain that operates throughout Ireland. The chain operates as a symbol group owned by Musgrave Group, the food wholesaler, meaning the individual shops are all owned by individual franchisees.
The chain has three ...
along the back.[Cirrhigaleus australis Southern Mandarin Dogfish]
. FishBase. Retrieved on 2008-10-14.
Scientists say the shark is harmless. Its defensive techniques are useless against many larger fish, and, as a consequence, it is very vulnerable to other sharks and fish. Also, the southern Mandarin dogfish has very low resilience, its population doubling only about every 14 years.[
]
Expedition
In 2007, a group of scientists from CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications.
CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
spent some time searching the Eastern coast of Australia for new species.sea star
Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...
s, coral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
s, bivalves
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...
, brachiopod
Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...
s, several types of marine arthropod
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
s, and many others.
They conducted research in three outings, each three weeks long. Two outings were in the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
on Lizard Island
Lizard Island, also known as Jiigurru or Dyiigurra, is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. It is part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island, Queensland, Palfrey Island, and ...
and Heron Island, and the third was in the Ningaloo Reef
The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that frin ...
on the northwest coast of Australia.
Conservation status
In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the southern Mandarin dogfish as "At Risk – Naturally Uncommon" with the qualifiers "Data Poor" and "Threatened Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System
The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand.
The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...
.
References
External links
Pictures and Info on Cirrhigaleus australis
Dogfish Sharks, 'Squalidae' Info
Classification and Characteristics of 'Squalidae'
CSIRO Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Mandarin dogfish
Cirrhigaleus
Fish of Australia
Taxa named by William Toby White
Taxa named by Peter R. Last
Taxa named by John D. Stevens
Fish described in 2007