Hooktooth dogfish

Hooktooth dogfish
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Order:	Squaliformes
Family:	Etmopteridae
Genus:	Aculeola F. de Buen, 1959
Species:	A. nigra
Binomial name
Aculeola nigra F. de Buen, 1959
Range of hooktooth dogfish (in blue)

The hooktooth dogfish, Aculeola nigra, is a small, little-known dogfish, the only member of the genus Aculeola.

The type specimen is held at the National Natural History Museum, Santiago, Chile.

Description[]

The hooktooth dogfish has a blunt, flattened snout, very large eyes, a relatively long distance from the eye to the first gill slit, small grooved dorsal spines, a first dorsal fin about halfway between the pectoral and pelvic fins, and a broad caudal fin. They are black with a maximum length of only 60 cm.

Distribution[]

They are found in the eastern South Pacific along the coast of South America from Peru to central Chile.

Habits and habitat[]

This shark is a little-known, yet common, shark that lives at depths between 110 and 560 m. They are ovoviviparous, with at least three pups per litter. They probably eat bony fish and invertebrates.

References[]

• Ebert, D.A., Concha, F., Acuña, E., Herman, K. & Kyne, P.M. (2020). "Aculeola nigra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• , Volume 4, Parts 1 and 2: Sharks of the World

External links[]

• Species Description of Aculeola nigra at www.shark-references.com