Centrophorus granulosus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Gulper shark
photo by Murch, A.

Family:  Centrophoridae (Gulper sharks)
Max. size:  170 cm TL (male/unsexed); 145.5 cm TL (female)
Environment:  bathydemersal; marine; depth range 50 - 1500 m
Distribution:  Eastern Atlantic: France to South Africa, including the Mediterranean (Ref. 31367). Western Central Atlantic: northern Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 247, 6871). Indian Ocean: Mozambique, South Africa and the Aldabra Islands (Ref. 31367); Western Australia (Ref. 6871). Western Pacific: Japan, Papua New Guinea, and Australia (Ref. 31367). Not in the Eastern Pacific (Ref. 94782).
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 2-2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 0-0. Light grayish brown dorsally, paler ventrally; eyes greenish (Ref. 6871). Adults with tips of dorsal fins dusky, not prominently marked (Ref. 31367).
Biology:  A common deepwater dogfish of the outer continental shelves and upper slopes, commonest below 200 m (Ref. 247); usually benthic and epibenthic at depths from 50-1440 m with most records from 200-600 m (Compagno, pers. comm. 07/07). Solitary (Ref. 26340). Adults feed mainly on bony fishes such as hake, epigonids, lanternfish, herring, smelts, cods, rattails, squid and crustaceans (Ref. 247, IUCN workshop 07/07). Males mature at about 105-118 cm TL (Ref. 94782). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). Number of litter recorded, one in Mediterranean females, and possibly 1 or 2 for the species. This species is fished in Eastern Atlantic by bottom trawls, long lines, fixed bottom nets, hook and line and pelagic trawls; caught and discarded, or utilised from by-catch fisheries (IUCN discussion 07/07). Marketed smoked and dried salted for human consumption; also processed into fishmeal and a source of liver oil for squalene (Ref. 247). Maximum depth from Ref. 125614.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN); Date assessed: 21 November 2019 (A2bd) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:  Smith's 1912 specimen of Lepidorhinus foliaceus, USNM 99494, currently identified as Centrophorus acus, needs validation. Species likely present from Philippines, being taken in adjacent areas including the South China Sea (Ref. 47737).


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