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Plunket's Dogfish
Centroscymnus plunketi (Waite, 1910)
Head of a Plunket's Dogfish caught on hook and line off Eden, New South Wales, May 2007. Photo © J. Staines, NSW DPI. View larger image.
A 1.3 m long Plunket's Dogfish caught at a depth of about 900 m, during the NORFANZ expedition on the Western Norfolk Ridge, Tasman Sea. Photo: K. Parkinson © NORFANZ. This fish is registered in the Australian Museum Fish Collection (I.42748-001). View larger image.
Ventral surface of the head of the fish in the image above. Photo: K. Parkinson © NORFANZ. View larger image.
Plunket's Dogfish is grey to brown. It has two dorsal fins, both of which are preceded by a spine. The second dorsal fin is slightly larger than the first. The pectoral fins are very broad. The teeth at the symphysis of the upper jaw are noticeably smaller than those in the fourth to eighth rows on either side.
Young are born at around 32 - 36 cm in length. Adults grow to about 1.7 m in length. Males mature at about 1.1 m in length and females at about 1.3 m.
This species occurs in temperate waters of the south-western Pacific at continental shelf and slope depths.
In Australia it is known from off New South Wales and Tasmania.
The diet consists mainly of fishes and cephalopods.
It has also been called Lord Plunket's Shark, Plunket Shark and Waite's Deepsea Dogfish.
The species was described in 1910 by Australian Museum ichthyologist Edgar Ravenswood Waite.
Related links
- Portuguese Dogfish fact sheet
- View the Sharks list
- View the family Squalidae list
Further Reading
- Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.
- Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513.
- Stevens, J.D. in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
