Pink Lanternashark

About the Pink Lanternashark

The Pink Lanternshark is a shark of the family Etmopteridae, found in Australia and New Caledonia.

Biology and Description:

The Pink Lanternshark has a soft, stout, subcylindrical body with a relatively short head. The eyes are narrow, without a pale naked patch in the upper eyelid, and the mouth is broad and subequal to the eye’s length. The first dorsal fin is located behind the rear tip of pectoral fins. The Caudal peduncle is short. The denticles are minute, bristle-like, and mostly randomly arranged. This species reaches a maximum size of 41 cm TL. The reproduction mode is ovoviviparous. Young are born at 9-10 cm TL.

Habitat:

The Pink Lanternshark is a bathypelagic species known only from the continental slope near the bottom of the central Queensland Plateau (Northeast Australia) and from off New Caledonia (Western Central Pacific) at depths of 108-880 m.

Conservation:

Presently, there are no major threats to this species’ main area and it is not of any commercial value. There are currently no conservation measures in place for this species. Its entire Australian range falls into the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve.

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