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Galeus melastomus  Rafinesque, 1810

Blackmouth catshark
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Galeus melastomus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Galeus melastomus (Blackmouth catshark)
Galeus melastomus
Picture by Svensen, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Scyliorhinidae (Cat sharks)
Etymology: Galeus: Greek, galeos = a shark (Ref. 45335).   More on author: Rafinesque.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 55 - 1873 m (Ref. 55744), usually 150 - 1200 m (Ref. 35388).   Deep-water, preferred 21°C (Ref. 107945); 64°N - 14°N, 19°W - 36°E

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

Northeast Atlantic: Faeroe Islands and Trondheim, Norway southward to Senegal. Mediterranean Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 64.7, range 56 - ? cm
Max length : 75.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); 90.0 cm TL (female); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. ); max. published weight: 1.4 kg (Ref. 40637)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Depth range is reported at 55m-1200m in Ref. 9996. Found on the outer continental shelves and upper slopes. Feeds mainly on bottom invertebrates, including shrimps and cephalopods, but also on small pelagic bony fishes (lanternfishes) and other small elasmobranchs. Oviparous, with up to 13 eggs present in the oviducts at one time. Individuals from the Ionian Sea apparently reproduces from end of February to September and eggs are laid between 200 and 600 meters (Ref. 87978). Utilized fresh and dried-salted for human consumption, and for leather.

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

Oviparous, embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO(fisheries: production; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00269 (0.00220 - 0.00329), b=3.03 (2.97 - 3.09), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (57 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.