Somniosidae
Appearance
Sleeper sharks | |
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Somniosus sp. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Subclass: | |
Order: | |
Family: | Somniosidae D. S. Jordan, 1888
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Diversity | |
7 genera, 20 species; See text. |
Somniosidae is a family of sharks in the order Squaliformes, commonly known as sleeper sharks.[1]
Distribution and habitat
Somniosidae can be found in the following areas:
- Arctic to subantarctic waters
- all oceans
- shelves in cold waters
- continental and slopes
- temperate and tropical waters[2]
Diet
Beaks recovered from the stomachs of sleeper sharks suggest that these sharks feed on Colossal squid.[3]
Genera and species
- Centroscymnus Barbosa du Bocage & Brito Capello, 1864
- Centroscymnus coelolepis (Barbosa du Bocage & Brito Capello, 1864) (Portuguese dogfish)
- Centroscymnus owstoni (Garman, 1906) (Roughskin dogfish)
- Centroselachus Garman, 1913
- Centroselachus crepidater (Barbosa du Bocage & Brito Capello, 1864) (Longnose velvet dogfish)
- Proscymnodon Fowler, 1934
- Proscymnodon macracanthus (Regan, 1906) (Largespine velvet dogfish)
- Proscymnodon plunketi (Waite, 1910) (Plunket shark)
- Scymnodalatias Garrick, 1956
- Scymnodalatias albicauda Taniuchi & Garrick, 1986 (Whitetail dogfish)
- Scymnodalatias garricki Kukuyev & Konovalenko, 1988 (Azores dogfish)
- Scymnodalatias oligodon Kukuyev & Konovalenko, 1988 (Sparsetooth dogfish)
- Scymnodalatias sherwoodi (Archey, 1921) (Sherwood dogfish)
- Scymnodon Barbosa du Bocage & Brito Capello, 1864
- Scymnodon ringens Barbosa du Bocage & Brito Capello, 1864 (Knifetooth dogfish)
- Somniosus Lesueur, 1818
- Somniosus antarcticus Whitley, 1939 (Southern sleeper shark)
- Somniosus longus (Tanaka, 1912) (Frog shark)
- Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Greenland shark)
- Somniosus pacificus Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944 (Pacific sleeper shark)
- Somniosus rostratus (Risso, 1827) (Little sleeper shark)
- Somniosus sp. A Not yet described (Longnose sleeper shark)
- Zameus D. S. Jordan & Fowler, 1903
- Zameus ichiharai (Yano & S. Tanaka (II), 1984) (Japanese velvet dogfish)
- Zameus squamulosus (Günther, 1877) (Velvet dogfish)
Hákarl
Greenland sharks or basking sharks of the family Somniosidae are hunted for food in Iceland. The shark carcass is traditionally fermented in a shallow pit, with stones placed on top of the shark, allowing poisonous internal fluids, like urea and trimethylamine oxide, to be pressed and drained out of the body. The meat is then cured for several months, rendering it safe for human consumption.[4]
References
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Somniosidae". FishBase. February 2011 version.
- ^ "Family Somniosidae - Sleeper sharks". Fish Base. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- ^ Cherel, Y. & G. Duhamel 2004. Template:PDFlink Deep-Sea Research I 51: 17–31.
- ^ Wheatley, Gale (20 September 2010). "Iceland's Wild Culinary Traditions: Hákarl and Brennivín".