The Japanese velvet dogfish (''Scymnodon ichiharai'') is a harmless deepwater sleeper 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 ...

Somniosidae The Somniosidae are a family of sharks in the order Squaliformes, commonly known as sleeper sharks. The common name ''"sleeper shark"'' comes from their slow swimming, low activity level, and perceived non-aggressive nature. Distribution and hab ...

, found in the northwest

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

from

Suruga Bay Suruga Bay (駿河湾, ''Suruga-wan'') is a bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is situated north of a straight line from Omaezaki Point to Irōzaki Point at the tip of the Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Honsh� ...

and adjacent waters of Japan at depths of between .White, W.T., Vaz, D.F.B., Ho, H.-C., Ebert, D.A., Carvalho, M.R.d., Corrigan, S., Rochel, E., Carvalho, M.d., Tanaka, S. & Naylor, G.J.P. (2014): Redescription of ''Scymnodon ichiharai'' Yano and Tanaka 1984 (Squaliformes: Somniosidae) from the western North Pacific, with comments on the definition of somniosid genera. ''Ichthyological Research, 62 (2): 213-229.'' 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 ...

References

Scymnodon Fish described in 1984 {{Shark-stub