Hooktooth Dogfish

About the Hooktooth Dogfish

Also known as the Hooktooth Dogfish, this shark species is in the Etmopteridae family (lantern sharks). They have small hook-like teeth in both jaws and very small equal-sized dorsal fin spines.

This species is found on the continental shelf and upper slopes in the Southeast Pacific Ocean off Peru and Chile, 200 to 500 metres deep.

At birth, the Hooktooth Dogfish is 14 cm in length and can grow to 60 cm. Females reach maturity at 52-54 cm while males reach maturity at only 42-46 cm. They reproduce yearly and have an average litter size of 10.

Conservation

There are no current conservation actions in place for the Hooktooth Dogfish but it is potentially vulnerable to deep-water fishing methods. This is especially due to its narrow geographical range and the global expansion of deep-water fishing.

It is known to be taken as by-catch by deep-water crustacean trawl fisheries (deep-sea fishing nets catching sea creatures such as lobsters, pulled by two boats) in Chile and is the most important by-catch species by weight in the deep-sea shrimp fisheries.

The Hooktooth Dogfish is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Redlist for Endangered Species and monitoring of catches is a priority.

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