Great lanternshark (Etmopterus princeps)

Great lanternshark, studied for scientific purposes
Great lanternshark, studied for scientific purposes

Great lanternshark fact file

Great lanternshark description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassChondrichthyes
OrderSqualiformes
FamilyEtmopteridae
GenusEtmopterus (1)

This poorly known inhabitant of the ocean depths belongs to a genus typically referred to as the ‘lantern sharks’, on account of the number of species exhibiting tiny light-producing organs on the sides of their body (3) (4). Small and stout bodied, the great lanternshark is generally blackish-brown in colour and possesses hooked denticles resembling tiny teeth on its skin (2) (3). The caudal fin is very broad and like other lantern sharks, the two dorsal fins are each preceded by a single grooved spine, the second of which is large and strongly curved (3). In adaptation to the low light levels of its deepwater environment, the great lanternshark has large, sensitive eyes (4).

French
Rough Sagre, Sagre Rude.
Spanish
Tollo Lucero Raspa.
Size
Max length: 89 cm (2)
Top

Great lanternshark biology

Like many other deepwater shark species, very little is known about the biology of the great lanternshark (1). However, examinations of the stomach contents of trawled catches indicate that it mainly feeds on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans (2).

Top

Great lanternshark range

The available evidence indicates that the great lanternshark only occurs in the North and East Central Atlantic, however, there have been unconfirmed reports of this species in the Western Pacific (1) (3).

Top

Great lanternshark habitat

This deepwater species typically occurs on or near the bottom of the continental slope from depths of 350 to 2,213 metres, but has also been recorded down to 4,500 metres (1) (3).

Top

Great lanternshark status

Classified as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List (1).

IUCN Red List species status – Data Deficient

Top

Great lanternshark threats

The great lanternshark is caught as bycatch by deepwater trawlers over much of its range, but owing to the paucity of information on the species and the overall lack of fisheries information, the status of this species is unknown (1).

Top

Great lanternshark conservation

Given the dearth of species level information, the conservation priority for the great lanternshark is to conduct further research into its biology and ecology, and the extent to which it is being impacted upon by deepwater fisheries (1).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

To find out more about the conservation of sharks, see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: arkive@wildscreen.org.ukTop

Glossary

Bycatch
In the fishing industry, the part of the catch made up of non-target species.
Caudal fin
The tail fin of a fish.
Cephalopods
From the Greek for ‘head-foot', a class of molluscs that occur only in marine habitats. All species have grasping tentacles, and either an internal or external shell. Includes nautiloids, cuttlefish, squids, octopuses, and extinct ammonites and belemnites.
Crustaceans
Diverse group of arthropods (a phylum of animals with jointed limbs and a hard chitinous exoskeleton) characterised by the possession of two pairs of antennae, one pair of mandibles (parts of the mouthparts used for handling and processing food) and two pairs of maxillae (appendages used in eating, which are located behind the mandibles). Includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, slaters, woodlice and barnacles.
Denticles
In some fish, modified scales that resemble teeth.
Dorsal fins
In fish, the unpaired fin(s) found on the back of the body.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (May, 2009)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. Jakobsdottir, K.B. (2001) Biological aspects of two deep-water squalid sharks: Centroscyllium fabricii (Reinhardt, 1825) and Etmopterus princeps (Collett, 1904) in Icelandic waters. Fisheries Research, 51: 247 - 265.
  3. 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 1: Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
  4. Campbell, A. and Dawes, J. (2004) Encyclopedia of Underwater Life. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

More »Related species

Prickly shark (Echinorhinus cookei)Dumb gulper shark (Centrophorus harrissoni)Bramble shark (Echinorhinus brucus)Shortspine spurdog (Squalus mitsukurii)Kitefin shark (Dalatias licha)Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias)Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus)Philippines spurdog (Squalus montalbani)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Great lanternshark, studied for scientific purposes  
Great lanternshark, studied for scientific purposes

© Alexei Orlov

Alexei Orlov
orlov@vniro.ru

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Great lanternshark (Etmopterus princeps) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.