The jaguar catshark (''Bythaelurus giddingsi''), also known as the Galápagos catshark, 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,

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 the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

. The species was first described in 2012. This catshark is about long when mature, and it is colored blackish-brown with an asymmetrical pattern of light spots.

Taxonomy

The species was first discovered in 1995 on an expedition to the

led by

John McCosker McCosker is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * John E. McCosker, American ichthyologist * John McCosker (rower) (1910–1965), American rower * Kim McCosker, Australian writer * Rick McCosker (born 1946), Australian cricketer Se ...

from the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...

. The purpose of the expedition was to film a documentary about the Galápagos Islands for the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

, which aired in 1996. Douglas Long was the first to notice the new shark species while he was processing the fish samples that were collected during the expedition. Though not yet formally described, the name Galápagos catshark was used in non-scientific shark literature for several years prior to the published description. The species was formally described as a new species in an article by McCosker, Long and Carole Baldwin which was published in ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

'' in March 2012. As the authors did not propose a

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

in their original publication, and also because there are several species of catshark from the

, the name jaguar catshark was subsequently proposed, and later used in print.Weigmann, S., C.J. Kaschner, and R. Thiel. 2018. A new microendemic species of the deep-water catshark genus Bythaelurus (Carcharhiniformes, Pentanchidae) from the northwestern Indian Ocean, with investigations of its feeding ecology, generic review and identification key. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0207887. The scientific name honors underwater photographer and cinematographer Al Giddings, and the common name is in reference to the spotted pattern characteristic of the species, as well as its resemblance to the mythical jaguar shark in the

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...

movie ''

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy-drama film written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach and directed by Anderson. It is Anderson's fourth feature-length film and was released in the United States on Decem ...

''.

Description

The jaguar catshark is blackish-brown on top with light spots arranged in an asymmetric pattern. Other species of catshark either lack spots, or else have a spots arranged in a single line. The bottom of the shark is lighter. It is about a in length, and thus an intermediate sized catshark. Its head is short, representing between 21% and 24% of the shark's total length. The front of its

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...

is blunt and round. It has two high, narrow

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 a low, broad

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

. 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 have a somewhat

triangular A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimensional ...

shape. It has a narrow, asymmetrical

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

Distribution and habitat

The jaguar catshark is known only from waters around several of the

, including

San Cristóbal Island San Cristóbal Island (), also known as Chatham Island, is the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, as well as one of the oldest geologically. It is administratively part of San Cristóbal Canton, Ecuador. Names ''San Crist� ...

Darwin Island Darwin Island () is an isolated northern member of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, the uppermost extent of an Volcano#Extinct, extinct volcano. It has an area of and reaches height above mean sea level, above sea level. Visits to the i ...

, Marchena Island and

Fernandina Island Fernandina Island () is the youngest and third largest island in the Galápagos, as well as the furthest west. It has an area of and a height of , with a summit caldera about wide. It is younger than Isabela, being only less than one million ...

. According to John McCosker, "since this catshark's range is restricted to the Galápagos, its population is likely limited in size, making it more susceptible than more widely distributed species." It has been found at depths ranging from . It lives over relatively flat areas with either sandy or a mixture of sandy and muddy substrates.

Feeding

Like other catsharks, the jaguar catshark lives near the sea floor and presumably eats fish and small invertebrates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:catshark, jaguar jaguar catshark Galápagos Islands coastal fauna jaguar catshark