Bythaelurus
Genus of sharks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bythaelurus is a genus of sharks belonging to the family Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. The genus Bythaelurus Compagno 1988 was first described as a subgenus of Halaelurus Gill 1862 based on several morphological characteristics including a soft body with thin skin, a bluntly rounded snout without a pointed, knob-like tip, and eyes not noticeably elevated on the dorsal surface of the head. Members of this genus are generally found in deep water and have more somber body coloration.[1]
| Bythaelurus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dusky catshark (Bythaelurus canescens) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
| Family: | Pentanchidae |
| Genus: | Bythaelurus L. J. V. Compagno, 1988 |
| Type species | |
| Scyllium canescens Günther, 1878 | |
Species
There are currently 14 recognized species in this genus:[2]
- Bythaelurus alcockii (Garman, 1913) (Arabian catshark)[1]
- Bythaelurus bachi Weigmann et al., 2016 (Bach's catshark)[3]
- Bythaelurus canescens (Günther, 1878) (dusky catshark)
- Bythaelurus clevai (Séret, 1987) (broadhead catshark)
- Bythaelurus dawsoni (S. Springer, 1971) (New Zealand catshark)
- Bythaelurus giddingsi J. E. McCosker, Long & C. C. Baldwin, 2012 (Galápagos catshark)
- Bythaelurus hispidus (Alcock, 1891) (bristly catshark)
- Bythaelurus immaculatus (Y. T. Chu & Q. W. Meng, 1982) (spotless catshark)
- Bythaelurus incanus Last & J. D. Stevens, 2008 (sombre catshark)
- Bythaelurus lutarius (S. Springer & D'Aubrey, 1972) (mud catshark)
- Bythaelurus naylori Ebert & Clerkin, 2015 (dusky snout catshark)[1]
- Bythaelurus stewarti Weigmann, Kaschner, and Thiel, 2018 (Error Seamount catshark)[4]
- Bythaelurus tenuicephalus Kaschner, Weigmann & Thiel, 2015 (narrowhead catshark) [5]
- Bythaelurus vivaldii Weigmann & Kaschner, 2017 (Vivaldi's catshark)[6]
A single fossil species, †Bythelurus steurbauti Hovestadt & Hovestadt-Euler, 1995 is known from the Early Oligocene of Belgium.[7]
