The blacktailed spurdog (Squalus melanurus) is a dogfish, a member of the familySqualidae, found around New Caledonia in the central Pacific Ocean, at depths from 320 to 320 m. Its length is up to 75 cm.
Its reproduction is ovoviviparous.
Parasites[]
The blacktailed spurdog has been seldom studied for parasites. The 1 mm-long monogeneanTriloculotrema chisholmae has been described in 2009 from three specimens found in the nasal tissue of a single shark caught off New Caledonia.[2]T. chisholmae was the second species described in the genusTriloculotrema Kearn, 1993 (family Monocotylidae).[3]
Species of Triloculotrema appear to be limited to deep-sea sharks, either triakids or squalids (possibly etmopterids).[2]
The blacktailed spurdog is also the host of external parasites such as the aegiid isopodAega angustata on the skin.[4] Internal parasites include several trypanorhynchcestodes in the spiral intestine, such as Vittirhynchus squali and Gilquinia sp.[5]
Gallery[]
Squalus melanurus, head
Squalus melanurus, dorsal fin and spine
Squalus melanurus, ventral view of male
References[]
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2006). "Squalus melanurus" in FishBase. July 2006 version.
^ abJustine, J.-L. 2009: A new species of Triloculotrema Kearn, 1993 (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from a deep-sea shark, the blacktailed spurdog Squalus melanurus (Squaliformes: Squalidae), off New Caledonia. Systematic Parasitology, 74, 59-63. doi:10.1007/s11230-009-9202-x
^Kearn, G. C. 1993: Triloculotrema japanicae n.g., n. sp. (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from the olfactory sacs of the Japanese topeshark Hemitriakis japanica (Müller & Henle, 1839) (Carcharhiniformes: Triakidae). Systematic Parasitology, 26, 53-57.
^Trilles, J.-P. & Justine, J.-L. 2004: Une nouvelle espèce de Cymothoidae et trois Aegidae (Crustacea, Isopoda) récoltés sur des poissons de mer profonde au large de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Zoosystema, 26, 211-233.
^Beveridge, I. & Justine, J.-L. 2006: Gilquiniid cestodes (Trypanorhyncha) from elasmobranch fishes off New Caledonia with descriptions of two new genera and a new species. Systematic Parasitology, 65, 235-249. doi:10.1007/s11230-006-9052-8