''Somniosus'' is a widely distributed
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of deepwater
dogfish sharks in 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.
Several members of the genus are believed to attain lengths up to , thus ranking among the largest of sharks.
Species
* ''
Somniosus antarcticus
The southern sleeper shark or Whitley's sleeper shark (''Somniosus antarcticus'') is a deepwater benthopelagic sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the southern Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy
It was formerly someti ...
''
Whitley, 1939 (southern sleeper shark)
* †''
Somniosus gonzalezi
''Somniosus gonzalezi'' is an extinct species of sleeper shark that lived during the Oligocene epoch Rupelian to Chattian stages. The species was described from teeth fossils found in the Pysht Formation of Washington states Olympic Peninsula ...
''
Welton & Goedert, 2016 – fossil,
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...
* ''
Somniosus longus
The frog shark (''Somniosus longus'') is a very rare species of squaliform shark mainly found in deep water in the Pacific Ocean. It is in the sleeper shark family Somniosidae with the Greenland shark.
Description
The frog shark is known to grow ...
''
Tanaka, 1912 (frog shark)
* ''
Somniosus microcephalus''
(Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include:
A–F
* (1859-1914), French rabbi
* Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur
* Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter
* (born 1972), German motor jour ...
& J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Greenland shark)
* ''
Somniosus pacificus
The Pacific sleeper shark (''Somniosus pacificus'') is a sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found in the North Pacific on continental shelves and slopes in Arctic and temperate waters between latitudes 70°N and 22°N, from the surface t ...
''
Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944 (Pacific sleeper shark)
* ''
Somniosus rostratus
The little sleeper shark (''Somniosus rostratus'') is a small sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the northeast Atlantic, western Mediterranean, and western Pacific around New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an is ...
''
A. Risso, 1827 (little sleeper shark)
* ''Somniosus'' sp. A
Not yet described (longnose sleeper shark)
Image:Somniosus microcephalus okeanos.jpg , '' Somniosus microcephalus''
Image:Somniosus pacificus noaa2.jpg, ''Somniosus pacificus
The Pacific sleeper shark (''Somniosus pacificus'') is a sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found in the North Pacific on continental shelves and slopes in Arctic and temperate waters between latitudes 70°N and 22°N, from the surface t ...
''
Image:Somniosus rostratus adult JGF.jpg, ''Somniosus rostratus
The little sleeper shark (''Somniosus rostratus'') is a small sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the northeast Atlantic, western Mediterranean, and western Pacific around New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an is ...
''
Image:Somniosus antarcticus.jpg, ''Somniosus antarcticus
The southern sleeper shark or Whitley's sleeper shark (''Somniosus antarcticus'') is a deepwater benthopelagic sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the southern Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy
It was formerly someti ...
''
See also
*
List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish
This list of prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the class chondrichthyes ''and'' are known from the fossil record. This list excludes purely vernacula ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q213054
Extant Oligocene first appearances
Shark genera
Taxa named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur