The New Zealand catshark (''Bythaelurus dawsoni'') is 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, in the order

Carcharhiniformes Carcharhiniformes ( from Classical Greek ' (karcharos) 'sharp/jagged' and ' (rhinos) 'nose', plus Latin ''forme'' 'shape'), commonly known as ground sharks, are the largest order of sharks, with over 270 species. They include a number of common ...

. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to in the deep waters around

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 ...

. Its length is up to . The New Zealand catshark is a small, little-known deep water bottom shark. It is dark brown around the top with a few widely spaced pale spots, and white below. It feeds on bottom-living

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s. It is also completely harmless to humans.

Conservation status

The New Zealand

Department of Conservation Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

has classified the New Zealand catshark as "Not Threatened" but with the qualifier "Data Poor" 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 ...

. It is regarded as being at risk from bottom trawling.

References

Endemic marine fish of New Zealand Taxa named by Stewart Springer Fish described in 1971 Bythaelurus {{NewZealand-stub