The African lanternshark (''Etmopterus polli'') is a shark of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Etmopteridae The Etmopteridae are a family of sharks in the order Squaliformes, commonly known as lantern sharks. Their name comes from the presence of light-producing photophores on their bodies. The members of this family are small, under long, and are fo ...

found in the eastern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

between

latitude In geography, latitude is a 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 the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

s 12°N and 18°S, at depths between 300 and 1,000 m. Its length is up to 30 cm. Reproduction is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

Etymology

The shark is named in honor of Belgian ichthyologist

Max Poll Max Fernand Leon Poll (21 July 1908 in Ruisbroek – 13 March 1991 in Uccle) was a Belgian ichthyologist who specialised in the Cichlidae. In the years 1946 and 1947 he organised an expedition to Lake Tanganyika. He has described several speci ...

, who had discovered the species and sent the specimens to Harvard’s

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

for description.

References

* * Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, ''Sharks of the World'', Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:African lnternshark Etmopterus Taxa named by Henry Bryant Bigelow Taxa named by William Charles Schroeder Taxa named by Stewart Springer Fish described in 1953