Dalatiidae Explained

The Dalatiidae are the family of kitefin sharks of the order Squaliformes (the term "kitefin shark" also refers specifically to the species Dalatias licha). Members of this family are small, under 2m (07feet) long, and are found worldwide. They have cigar-shaped bodies with narrow heads and rounded snouts. Several species have specialized bioluminescent organs.^[1] Though eight genera are in this family, four of them are monotypic.

Genera and species

• Dalatias Rafinesque, 1810
  • Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre, 1788) (kitefin shark)
  • †Dalatias orientalis (Malyshkina et al., 2022)^[2]
• Euprotomicroides Hulley and M. J. Penrith, 1966
  • Euprotomicroides zantedeschia Hulley and M. J. Penrith, 1966 (tail-light shark)
• Euprotomicrus T. N. Gill, 1865
  • Euprotomicrus bispinatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) (pygmy shark)
• Heteroscymnoides Fowler, 1934
  • Heteroscymnoides marleyi Fowler, 1934 (longnose pygmy shark)
• Isistius T. N. Gill, 1865
  • Isistius brasiliensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) (cookiecutter shark)
  • Isistius plutodus Garrick & S. Springer, 1964 (largetooth cookiecutter shark)
• Mollisquama Dolganov, 1984
  • Mollisquama parini Dolganov, 1984 (pocket shark)
  • Mollisquama mississippiensis (American pocket shark)
• Squaliolus H. M. Smith and Radcliffe, 1912
  • Squaliolus aliae Teng, 1959 (smalleye pygmy shark)
  • Squaliolus laticaudus H. M. Smith and Radcliffe, 1912 (spined pygmy shark)
• †Eosqualiolus Adnet, 2006
  • †Eosqualiolus aturensis Adnet, 2006
  • †Eosqualiolus skrovinai Underwood & Schlogl, 2012

See also

• List of fish families
• Deep sea fish

External links

• Dalatiidae in Fishesofaustralia.net.au

Notes and References

1. Book: Hamlett WC. Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University Press. 1999. 0-8018-6048-2. 16–17.
2. Tatiana P. Malyshkina. David J. Ward. Mikhail V. Nazarkin. Gi-Soo Nam. Seung-Hyuk Kwon. Jeong-Hyun Lee. Tae-Wan Kim. Do-Kwon Kim. Doo-Sung Baek. 2022. Miocene Elasmobranchii from the Duho Formation, South Korea. Historical Biology. 10.1080/08912963.2022.2110870.