Cuban dogfish

Cuban dogfish
Conservation status
Least Concern(IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Subdivision:	Selachimorpha
Order:	Squaliformes
Family:	Squalidae
Genus:	Squalus
Species:	S. cubensis
Binomial name
Squalus cubensis Howell-Rivero,1936
Range of the Cuban dogfish (in blue)

TheCuban dogfish(Squalus cubensis) is adogfish,a member of thefamilySqualidaein the orderSqualiformes.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in the Western Atlantic from North Carolina to Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, around Cuba,Hispaniola,southern Brazil, and Argentina. It inhabitscontinental shelvesand uppermost slopes at depths from 60 to 380 m.

Description

It is a slim, gray shark with black tips to its dorsal fins black and at the edges of its pectoral fins, its pelvic andcaudalfins are white; It possess a spine at front edge of each of its two dorsal fans. Its length may reach 110 cm.It probably feeds on bottom fishes and invertebrates. Theisopodparasites which commonly infest the mouth and gills of marine fish are unusually large in the Cuban dogfish. Its reproduction isovoviviparous,with 10 pups in a litter. It is not generally used for food, but taken commercially for the oil and vitamins extracted from its liver.

Gallery

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  Body
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  Head
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  Jaws
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  Upper teeth
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  Lower teeth