Heterodontus francisci, Horn shark : fisheries, aquarium

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Heterodontus francisci (Girard, 1855)

Horn shark
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Heterodontus francisci   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Heterodontus francisci (Horn shark)
Heterodontus francisci
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Heterodontiformes (Bullhead and horn sharks) > Heterodontidae (Bullhead, horn, or Port Jackson sharks)
Etymology: Heterodontus: heteros (Gr.), different; odontos (Gr.), tooth, referring to pointy teeth (for clutching prey) at front of jaws, different than rounded molar-like teeth (for grinding hard-shelled invertebrates) at the back. (See ETYFish);  francisci: Of Francisco, probably referring to San Francisco (city and/or bay), California, USA (although its range does not extend that far north of its type locality, Monterey Bay). (See ETYFish).
More on author: Girard.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 0 - 152 m (Ref. 106604), usually 2 - 11 m (Ref. 9253). Subtropical; 37°N - 15°S, 124°W - 75°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: central California, USA to the Gulf of California, and probably Ecuador and Peru.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 59 - ? cm
Max length : 122 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 247); common length : 97.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 247); max. reported age: 12 years (Ref. 72467)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Sluggish, nocturnal, and mostly solitary species. Inhabit rocky bottoms, kelp beds, sandy draws between rocks, on sand flats, deep crevices and small caves and also large underwater caverns. Adults tend to return to the same resting place every day (Ref. 43278). Feed on benthic invertebrates, especially sea urchins, crabs and probably abalone, also fishes. Oviparous (Ref. 50449). May bite back when harassed. Has broad muscular paired fins used as limbs for clambering on the bottom. Catch reduced to fish meal; fin spines used in production of jewels.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous (Ref. 205). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Courtship starts when the male chases the female, then when both are ready, they drop to the bottom (Ref. 43278). During courtship and prior to copulation, the male bites and wraps its body to the female pectoral fin, body, tail, and gills (Ref. 51127, 49562). The male then inserts a single clasper in the female's cloaca; copulation lasts 30 to 40 min. After one or two weeks later, the eggs are laid in about 11 to 14 intervals for 4 months which were deposited under rocks or in crevices, as was observed in nature. In captivity, the female drops the eggs on the bottom where the contents of the egg cases maybe eaten by these sharks; the eggs are hatched in 7 to 9 months. The young begin to feed one month after hatching (Ref. 43278).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Compagno, L.J.V., 2001. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Vol. 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO Spec. Cat. Fish. Purp. 1(2):269 p. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 43278)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 06 March 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 247)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: species profile; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
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Ecosystems
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Ecology
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Common names
Synonyms
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Predators
Ecotoxicology
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
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Length-weight
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Larvae
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 15.9 - 23.7, mean 21.4 °C (based on 159 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5059   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00437 (0.00232 - 0.00821), b=3.15 (2.97 - 3.33), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec=20).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (73 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 21.1 [4.1, 95.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.68 [0.18, 2.01] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [17, 21] %; Omega3 = 0.201 [0.090, 0.442] g/100g; Selenium = 28.1 [8.6, 83.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 7.36 [2.35, 22.58] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.646 [0.318, 1.171] mg/100g (wet weight);