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Frill Shark
Chlamydoselachus anguineus Garman, 1884
Lateral view of head. Photo: C. Bento © Australian Museum.
Upper jaw. Photo: C. Bento © Australian Museum.
Lower jaw. Photo: C. Bento © Australian Museum.
Claspers. Photo: C. Bento © Australian Museum.
The Frill Shark can be recognised by its slender eel-like body, six pairs of gill slits, terminal mouth, three-pronged teeth, single dorsal fin, caudal fin without a lower lobe, and brown colour.
This species grows to a maximum length of about 2 m.
The top image shows the large terminal mouth. The jaws can be opened very wide. Little effort was required to open the mouth wide enough to photograph the upper and lower jaws.
The Frill Shark's teeth at the margins of the jaw are gradually replaced by those behind. The teeth have three long cusps with a tiny cusplet at the base of each "V" formed by the the large cusps.
According to Last and Stevens (1994), the few stomach contents that have been examined were other elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). The species has been reported to feed in caves and crevices on the continental slope.
The lower image shows the claspers of this male shark. During mating, one clasper is inserted into the body of the female Frill Shark to facilitate sperm transfer.
Chlamydoselachus anguineus is the only living species in the Family Chlamydoselachidae.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
The above specimen of the Frill Shark was collected at a depth of 400 m off Eden, New South Wales in November 1998. It was sent to the Australian Museum by the Fisheries Inspectors at the office in Eden. The specimen is now in the Australian Museum Fish Collection (registration number AMS I.39050-001). Photo: C. Bento © Australian Museum.
Further reading
- Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513, Pl. 1-84.
- Stevens, J. & P.R. Last in Paxton, J.R. & W.N. Eschmeyer (Eds). 1994. Encyclopedia of Fishes. Sydney: New South Wales University Press. Pp. 240.
