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Sharpnose Sevengill Shark
Heptranchias perlo (Bonnaterre, 1788)
Above and below: A 75 cm long Sharpnose Sevengill Shark trawled during the NORFANZ expedition at a depth between 339 m and 344 m south of Norfolk Island, May 2003 (CSIRO H6006-10). Photo: R. McPhee © NORFANZ. View larger image.
The Sharpnose Sevengill Shark has a slender body with a long caudal peduncle (glossary). It has a pointed head with large eyes. There are seven pairs of long gill slits and a single dorsal fin. The teeth in the upper jaw have a narrow oblique cusp (glossary) and small lateral cusplets. The lower jaw teeth are shaped like a cockscomb.
This species is brownish to grey above and paler below. The tips of the dorsal and anal fins are dark in juveniles becoming whitish in adults. The eyes are green in life.
The Sharpnose Sevengill Shark grows to 1.4 m in length.
It occurs in tropical and temperate continental and insular shelves and upper slope waters usually at depths between 100 m to 400 m. It has however been caught as deep as 1000 m.
In Australia it is known from northern Queensland, down the east coast, around the south of the country, including Tasmania and north to off north-western Western Australia.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513, Pl. 1-84.
