South China Catshark

About the South China Catshark

The South China Catshark is a species of ground shark found in the South China Sea. Like all members of the catshark shark family, they’re bottom feeders, have elongated cat-like eyes, and two small dorsal fins set far back. They’re mostly nocturnal. They often sleep in groups during the day, and do their hunting at night.

They’re oviparous but the average litter size is unknown. Size at maturity is 47cm/1.54 ft in males and 61cm/2ft in females. The maximum possible length for this catshark is predicted to be between 75cm/2.46 ft and 82cm/2.69 ft.

The South China Catshark may be infrequently captured as incidental catch in deepwater fisheries, however, the species occurs at depths beyond fishing activities so bycatch levels would be low to negligible. Further information is required on its distribution, ecology, and life history, and interactions with fisheries should be monitored. At this time, global population trend is suspected to be stable based on refuge in deep water outside of current fishing activities and the South China Catshark is assessed as Least Concern. This species is not known to be utilized. There are no species-specific measures in place for the South China Catshark. Further information is required on its distribution, ecology, and life history, and interactions with fisheries should be monitored.

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