Dalatias licha
Kitefin Shark
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GNR
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Squaliformes (Dogfish Sharks)
Dalatiidae (Kitefin Sharks)
Dalatias
Dalatias licha (Kitefin Shark)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Moderately slender with a short, blunt snout and a relatively high caudal fin. Snout is relatively short, about equal to mouth width, and is considerably shorter than distance from mouth to pectoral fin origin. Anterior nasal flap is short. Teeth of upper jaw are narrow, with hooked cusps. Teeth of lower jaw are bladelike, with broad, triangular, serrated cusps, and form interlocked cutting edge. Upper jaw has 16 to 21 tooth rows, and lower jaw has 17 to 20. Dorsal fins are not preceded by a spine. Origin of first dorsal fin is posterior to free tip of pectoral fin. Second dorsal fin is higher than first dorsal fin, and its base is longer than that of first dorsal fin. Distance between dorsal fins is slightly greater than distance from tip of snout to axil of pectoral fin. Pectoral fin has broadly rounded rear corner. Dorsal lobe of caudal fin is well developed. Posterior margins of fins are not fringed. Dermal denticles on sides of body are low and flat with a single cusp.
Color is uniform dark gray.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it has been reported from Georges Bank and the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate seas, worldwide except eastern Pacific; captured from 37 to 1,000 m but most common below 200 m.
Biology
Food consists of siphonophores, polychaetes, crustaceans, squids, octopods, sharks, skates, and bony fishes.
Maximum size is about 159 to 182 cm TL.
Litters range from 10 to 16 young. Males mature at about 77 to 121 cm TL, females mature at about 117 to 159 cm TL, and young are about 30 cm TL at birth.
Found on outer continental and insular shelves and slopes (Ref. 247). Mainly found on or near the bottom but readily occurs well off the substrate (Ref. 247, 58302). Often pelagic (Ref. 58302). Found singly or in small schools (Ref. 6871). Feeds mainly on deepwater bony fish, but also skates, other sharks (etmopterids in Ref. 123656), cephalopods and crustaceans (Ref. 5578). This bioluminescent shark (currently the largest luminous vertebrate) emit light ventrally to counterilluminate which might be used to illuminate the ocean floor while searching/hunting for prey; or to stealthily approach prey, using counterillumination camouflage, before striking fast when it is close enough (Ref. 123656). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205), with 10-20 young born at 30-42 cm (Ref. 26346). Used for its squalene liver oil, leather and meat, as well as for fishmeal (Ref. 6871).
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2017-07-03. Resilience: Low (Fec=10-20).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Bigelow and Schroeder 1957
Castro 1983
Compagno 1984
McEachran and Branstetter 1984
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Compagno, L.J.V. (1984) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome, FAO.
Wetherbee, B.M., S.H. Gruber and E. Cortes (1990) Diet, feeding habits, digestion, and consumption in sharks, with special reference to the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris. p. 29-47. In H.L. Pratt, Jr., S.H. Gruber and T. Taniuchi (eds.) Elasmobranchs as living resources: advances in the biology, ecology, systematics, and the status of the fisheries. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 90. 517 p.
Springer, S. (1990) Squalidae. p. 7-19. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Cox, G. and M. Francis (1997) Sharks and rays of New Zealand. Canterbury Univ. Press, Univ. of Canterbury. 68 p.
Cortés, E. (1999) Standardized diet compositions and trophic levels of sharks. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 56:707-717.
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