Portuguese Short-Sharked Shark

The species was first described in 1906 ^[5] . The holotype is a male 104 cm long, caught in the South China Sea ^[6] . The generic name comes from the words Greek. κεντρωτός - "spiked" and Greek. φορούν - “wear” ^[7] , and the species - from the ancient Roman name of modern Portugal, lat. Lusitan ^[8] .

Portuguese short-shark sharks that live in the eastern Atlantic are larger and more powerful than sharks from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This species is often confused with Centrophorus niaukang and Centrophorus granulosus . ^{[9] The} species identification of sharks, with the exception of members of the Atlantic population, requires further consideration ^[10] .

Portuguese short-shark sharks are found in the northeastern and central-eastern parts of the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Portugal , Morocco , the Canary Islands , Senegal , Nigeria , Côte d'Ivoire , Ghana , Cameroon and the Gulf of Guinea ^[4] . In the Indian Ocean, they live off the southern coast of Mozambique and, possibly, South Africa ^[11] . There is evidence of the presence of this species in the Pacific Ocean in the waters of China ^[12] and Taiwan, which, however, require further confirmation and species identification. These sharks are kept on the continental shelf and in the upper part of the continental slope at a depth of 300 to 1400 m, mainly between 300 m and 600 m ^[4] .

Portuguese short-sharked sharks have an elongated body and snout. The distance from the tip of the snout to the mouth is equal to or greater than the width of the mouth, but shorter than the distance from the mouth to the base of the pectoral fins. Anal fin missing. The eyes are large, oval, elongated horizontally. Behind the eyes there are splashes . On the front surface, approximately from the middle of the height of the fins, vertical spikes lie. The body is covered with placoid protruding scales in the form of rhombuses that do not overlap each other. The caudal free end of the pectoral fins is narrow and elongated, it is longer than the base and reaches the point where the spike emerges on the first dorsal fin ^[4] .

The first dorsal fin is very long and low. The second dorsal is shorter, but approximately equal in height to it. The length of its base is from 1/2 to 3/5 of the length of the base of the first dorsal fin. The distance between the bases of the dorsal fins in adults is approximately equal to the distance between the tip of the snout and the middle of the base of the pectoral fins. The caudal fin is asymmetrical, the lower lobe is poorly developed. Lateral carinae and precaudal notch on caudal peduncle absent. At the edge of the upper lobe of the caudal fin there is a ventral notch ^[4] . The color is silver-gray ^[13] .

The maximum recorded length is 160 cm.

Portuguese short-throated sharks breed by egg-born ^[2] . In the litter from 1 to 6 cubs. Females reach puberty at a length of 88 to 144 cm, and males at a length of 72 to 128 cm. The diet consists of bony fish, squid and small cataraids ^[4] .

Portuguese short-sharks are not dangerous to humans. Like other deep-sea sharks with a similar life cycle, they are sensitive to overfishing. Limited habitat also makes them vulnerable. As by-catch, they end up in commercial bottom tiers, trawls and gillnets targeted at deep-sea sharks. They are processed into fishmeal , and in salt-dried form they are used for food ^[4] . The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assigned this species the status “Vulnerable” ^[10] .