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Squaliolus aliae  Teng, 1959

Smalleye pygmy shark
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Squaliolus aliae   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Squaliolus aliae (Smalleye pygmy shark)
Squaliolus aliae
Picture by The Fish Database of Taiwan

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

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Squaliformes (Bramble, sleeper and dogfish sharks) > Dalatiidae (Sleeper sharks)
Etymology: Squaliolus: Latin, squalidus = pale, weak (Ref. 45335);  aliae: Named for the wife of the describer (specific name corrected to aliae by Sasaki and Uyeno, Ref. 47737).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 200 - 2000 m (Ref. 6871).   Deep-water, preferred ?

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

Western Pacific: Japan to Australia (off northwestern Australia and New South Wales).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 15 - ? cm
Max length : 22.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6871)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0. The smalleye pygmy shark, Squaliolus aliae, is a very small dogfish (about 22cm) characterized by its small eye, with diameter about 46-70% of interorbital width, and with upper margin angular and chevron-shaped; upper lip with a pair of prominent lateral papillae (rarely indistinct) (Ref. 31367, 6871).Colour: dark brown to black, fin margins pale (Ref. 6871). Squaliolus are the only sharks with a fin spine on its first dorsal fin (spine sometimes concealed by skin) but not on its second dorsal fin; second dorsal fin long-based and low, about twice the length of the first dorsal fin base; first dorsal-fin base closer to pectoral fins than to pelvic fins; and caudal fin nearly symmetrical, with subterminal notch present (Ref. 247, 6871).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Possibly the smallest living shark (Ref. 6871). Found near continental and island land masses (Ref. 31367). Feeds mainly on cephalopods and small midwater bony fishes (Ref. 6871). Probably makes diurnal vertical migrations from within 200 m of the surface at night down to about 2,000 m during the day (Ref. 6871). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 6871).

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

Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Ovoviviparous but litter size unknown (Ref. 6871). Males mature at 15 cm (Ref. 31367).

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

Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens, 1994. Sharks and rays of Australia. CSIRO, Australia. 513 p. (Ref. 6871)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
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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 | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.7520   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00363 (0.00139 - 0.00945), b=3.12 (2.89 - 3.35), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.57 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (11 of 100) .