Roughskin Dogfish

About the Roughskin Dogfish

Also known as the Roughskin Dogfish Shark or Owston’s Dogfish, is a sleeper shark of the Somniosidae family, found around the world on continental shelves in tropicals, subtropical and temperate seas.

Biology:

This species is of dark brown or black colour, it has dorsal fins with extreme tips of fin spines protruding from the fins, moderately long snout, lanceolate upper teeth and bladelike lower teeth with short, oblique cusps, with a fairly stocky body that does not taper abruptly from the pectoral region. Males mature are about 70 to 79 cm Tl, and females mature at about 82 to 105 cm TL. The maximum size recorded is of 120 cm. Size at birth ranges from 25 to 30 cm TL.

This species is ovoviviparous, with 16 to 28 pups per litter. Information on gestation period and reproductive cycle are not well known.

Habitat:

A moderately common deepwater shark within its known geographic range, and which may extend deeper than is currently recognized. Found mainly in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Marine, demersal, this shark occurs on the upper and middle continental slope between 250 to 1,500 m, usually 500 to 1,500 m.

Behaviour:

The Roughskin Dogfish feeds on fishes and squids. This shark sometimes occurs in schools segregated by size and sex.

Conservation and threats:

A moderate bycatch in some deepwater trawl and line fisheries. Its depth range coincides with that of some commercially important teleosts, although it extends somewhat deeper. There are currently no conservation actions in place for this species.

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