Japanese Velvet Dogfish

About the Japanese Velvet Dogfish

The Japanese velvet dogfish is very rare a species of sleeper shark found only in Suruga Bay, Japan, at depths of between 450m and 830m. Like other sleeper sharks, they’re very slow-swimming and passive.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous but the average little size is unknown. Males reach maturity at 89cm and females do so at 126cm. Maximum total length for this species is 145.5cm.

The IUCN suspect that, like other deep water species, the Japanese velvet dogfish may have life limiting characteristics, such as low fecundity. Additionally, there are deep water fisheries targeting sharks in their known range but there currently isn’t enough information to assess their population health. Their conservation status is “Data Deficient.”

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