Stout Catshark

About the Stout Catshark

There is very little known about Stout Catsharks, though they are presumably endemic to Tohoku Slope, Japan in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. They are deep water creatures that have a depth range from 100 m to 1,500 m.

Biology and Behaviour:

Stout catsharks have a dark brown body with a broad flattened head and an elongated, wide snout.

A mature male reaches 55 cm/1 ft 9.7 in from head to tail, however a mature female length is unknown.The maximum reported length of a stout catsharks is 68 cm/2 ft 2.8 in .

Apristurus species are relatively small and sluggish sharks that live on or near the bottom of the sea. Their diet includes crustaceans, squids and small fishes.

Reproduction and Lifespan:

Stout catsharks are oviparous, meaning egg laying. The egg cases of stout catsharks are thick and approximately 5 to 6.8 cm/2 to 2.7 in long and 2.5 cm to 2.9 cm/1 to 1.1 in wide.

Conservation and Tourism:

The species is a possible discarded bycatch of deep-water demersal trawl fisheries in the shallower part of its depth range on the outer continental shelf which covers approximately 40% of its geographic range. However, it has not been reported from this fishery and has refuge from fisheries across a significant proportion of its spatial and depth range. The population trend is unknown for the Stout Catshark, and it has been noted as rare. There is no evidence of population decline, the species is not suspected to be close to reaching the population reduction threshold, and the Stout Catshark is assessed as Least Concern.

There are no species-specific measures in place for the Stout Catshark. In Japan, management measures have been implemented since the mid-1990s to control fishing effort that include total allowable catches, seasonal closures and gear restrictions (White Paper 2015). Research is required to better define the species’ distribution, habitat, and life history, population size and trend, and catch rates should be monitored, particularly if fisheries expand to greater depths in the region.

Do you have images or videos of Stout Catsharks?
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