Cephaloscyllium maculatum (lat.) Is one of the species of the genus Tadpole shark family of cat sharks (Scyliorhinidae).
| Cephaloscyllium maculatum |
| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| View: | Cephaloscyllium maculatum |
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| International Scientific Name |
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Cephaloscyllium maculatum ( Schaaf-Da Silva & Ebert , 2008) |
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Content
The only known specimen of Cephaloscyllium maculatum was caught on April 3, 2008 off the coast of Su-ao (Taiwan). It is described in the international scientific journal β Zootaxa β [1] . The specific name of the lat. maculatum means "spotted" [1] .
The holotype was 18.8 cm long and was an immature male. It is a shark with a slender body with a short, wide and flat head. The muzzle is wide and rounded. The nostrils are surrounded by triangular folds of the skin. Small oval eyes look like cats. The mouth is rather small, the grooves in the corners of the mouth are absent. There are 48 upper and 52 lower dentitions in the mouth. The teeth are very small, with a central protrusion and a pair of lateral teeth. Five pairs of gill slits are very short.
The first dorsal fin is small, although slightly larger than the second. Its base lies beyond the middle of the base of the ventral fins. Pectoral fins large and wide. Anal fin larger than both dorsal fins. The wide caudal fin has a deep ventral notch at the tip of the superior lobe. The skin is thick, covered with placoid scales . The immature holotype was beige-brown, the back was covered with dark spots of irregular shape. The belly is paler and without marks [1] .
Like other head sharks, Australian head sharks can be pumped up with water or air, being pulled out of the water, and swell up in case of danger; in this way they wedge in crevices, not allowing themselves to be grabbed, and even frighten off the predator [1] .
- β 1 2 3 4 Schaaf-Da Silva, JA and DA Ebert (September 8, 2008). "A revision of the western Pacific swellsharks, genus Cephaloscyllium Gill 1862 (Chondrichthys: Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae), including descriptions of two new species." Zootaxa 1872: 1-8.