FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

1230 Sharks
Squalus megalops (Macleay, 1881)
En - Shortnose spurdog; Fr - Aiquillat nez court; Sp - Galludo ñato.
Maximum total length about 71 cm. On the outer continental shelves and slopes on or near the
bottom at depths of 50 to 730 m. Schooling; feeds on bony fish, also on cephalopods, crustaceans
and other elasmobranchs. Taken in bottom trawls, and by hook-and-line (sports catches); consumed
fresh, dried salted, or smoked. Eastern Atlantic from Guinea to South Africa, in the Pacific from
South Africa to Mozambique, from Japan to (possibly) Viet Nam and off Australia, and possibly New
Caledonia and Vanuatu. Possibly a species complex. Western North Pacific representatives often
recognized as Squalus brevirostris.
Squalus melanurus Fourmanoir and Rivaton, 1979
En - Blacktailed spurdog; Fr - Aiguillat à queue noire; Sp - Galludo cola negra.
Maximum total length 75 cm (adult females). Occurs on the insular slopes of New Caledonia, at
depths of 320 to 340 m. Feeds on lanternfishes, boarfishes, barracudinas, and flatheads. Without
interest to fisheries at present. Known only from New Caledonia, from the Ad and Bulari passes.
Squalus mitsukurii Jordan and Snyder, 1903
En - Shortspine spurdog; Fr - Aiguillat épinette; Sp - Galludo espinilla.
Maximum total length about 1.1 m; commonly to about 76 cm. On the continental and insular slopes
and shelves and upper slopes at depths from 50 to 740 m. Feeds on bony fishes, cephalopods, and
crustaceans. Caught in bottom trawls, but without importance to fisheries in the area. Considered
to be widely distributed in temperate and subtropical parts of most oceans but possibly consisting
of a species complex.
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