Combtooth Dogfish

About the Combtooth Dogfish

Also known as the Combtooth Dogfish, is a little-known deep-water dogfish found on the continental and insular slopes of the Central and Eastern Pacific. This species can be found in depths of 250-1,250 metres in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands, southern California, Panama, Cocos Island, Columbia, Ecuador, Chile, and the Galapagos Island.

Biology and reproduction

The Combtooth Dogfish is 11-13 cm in length at birth and can grow to 50 cm, fully grown.  Females mature at 43 cm in length and males mature at 35 to 43 cm. They are born in a litter of at least seven young.

This species feeds on deepwater shrimp, cephalopods and small bony fish in the deep depths of the ocean.

Conservation and Tourism

Evaluated by the IUCN Red List as harmless to humans, these sharks are also not of interest to fisheries but are sporadically caught as bycatch in the Chilean deep-sea shrimp fishery. This species can also be incidentally captured in sablefish traps in California, but they are not used.

The IUCN lists the Combtooth Dogfish as being data deficient (on their scale of threatened species), therefore more information needs to be collected and bycatch numbers should be monitored.

Do you have images or videos of Combtooth Dogfishs?
Submit them to [email protected].

Combtooth Dogfish Gallery


Scientific NameCentroscyllium Nigrum
OrderDog and Angelfish Sharks - Squaliformes
GenusCentroscyllium
CitesNot Listed
IUCNData Deficient
ReproductionViviparous
SizeSmall
Litter Size7
Common Length50 cm
Max LenghtNA
Depth Range250 - 1,250 m
DistributionEastern Central Pacific
EnvironmentBenthopelagic