Blacktailed spurdog
Species of shark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The blacktailed spurdog (Squalus melanurus) is a dogfish, a member of the family Squalidae, found around New Caledonia in the central Pacific Ocean, at depths from 320 to 320 m. Its length is up to 75 cm.
| Blacktailed spurdog | |
|---|---|
| |
| from New Caledonia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Squaliformes |
| Family: | Squalidae |
| Genus: | Squalus |
| Species: | S. melanurus |
| Binomial name | |
| Squalus melanurus Fourmanoir & Rivaton, 1979 | |
 | |
| Range of the blacktailed spurdog (in blue) | |
Its reproduction is ovoviviparous.
Parasites
The blacktailed spurdog has been seldom studied for parasites. The 1 mm-long monogenean Triloculotrema chisholmae has been described in 2009 from three specimens found in the nasal tissue of a single shark caught off New Caledonia.[2]
T. chisholmae was the second species described in the genus Triloculotrema Kearn, 1993 (family Monocotylidae).[3]
Species of Triloculotrema appear to be limited to deep-sea sharks, either triakids or squalids (possibly etmopterids).[2]
The blacktailed spurdog is also the host of external parasites such as the aegid isopod Aega angustata on the skin.[4] Internal parasites include several trypanorhynch cestodes in the spiral intestine, such as Vittirhynchus squali and Gilquinia sp.[5]
Gallery
Squalus melanurus, head
Squalus melanurus, dorsal fin and spine
Squalus melanurus, ventral view of male
