Blackmouth Lanternshark

About the Blackmouth Lanternshark

The Blackmouth Lanternshark is a shark of the family Etmopteridae, found off western Australia and the Arafura Sea.

Biology and Description:

The Blackmouth Lanternshark has a slender body, the eyes are rather narrow with a pale naked patch in the upper eyelid. Dorsal and ventral coloration are strongly contrasted. There are no dots or dashes on the upper half, but there are prominent dark bands at the tip and through the mid caudal fin. The denticles are extremely dense, thin, delicate and poorly arranged defined rows. Males reach a maximum size of 26.2 cm TL and females of 29.7 cm TL. this species is ovoviviparous, distinct pairing with embrace.

Habitat:

The Blackmouth Lanternshark is a bathypelagic species recorded from the continental slope at depths of 430 – 550 m. this deepwater shark has been localized in the Eastern Indian Ocean off northwest Western Australia and from the Arafura Sea, south of the Tanimbar Islands, Indonesia.

Conservation:

Presently, there are no major fishing activities in the Lanternshark’s area of occurrence and the species is not targeted by any commercial fisheries. There are currently no conservation measures in place for this species. Part of its Australian range may overlap with marine reserves in the Northwest Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network.

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