The Centrophoridae are a family of squaliform sharks. The family contains just two genera and about 15 species. They are sometimes called gulper sharks, but this is also the name of a specific species in the family, Centrophorus granulosus. These are generally deepwater fish. While some, such as the gulper shark C. granulosus, are found worldwide and fished commercially, others are uncommon and little-known. Their usual prey is other fish; some are known to feed on squid, octopus, and shrimp. Some species live on the bottom (benthic), while others are pelagic. They are ovoviviparous, with the female retaining the egg-cases in her body until they hatch.
The spiny dogfish, spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order.
The dumb gulper shark is a rare and endangered deepwater dogfish, known from only along the east coast of Australia and isolated spots north and west of New Zealand. It is also known as the dumb shark, Harrison's deep-sea dogfish, or Harrison's dogfish.
The leafscale gulper shark is a dogfish of the family Centrophoridae. C. squamosus is reported to have a lifespan of approximately 70 years, based on otolith ring counts. It was the first described species in the genus Centrophorus, which now contains 13 species.
Deania is a genus of long-snouted, deepwater dogfish sharks in the family Centrophoridae.
The birdbeak dogfish is a dogfish shark of the family Centrophoridae found in the Pacific Ocean around Honshū, Japan, southern Australia, New Zealand, and Chile, and in the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland south to the Cape of Good Hope.
The rough longnose shark is a little-known deepwater dogfish. This species was described by Samuel Garman in 1906 and originally named Acanthidium hystricosa.
The arrowhead dogfish is a small little known deepwater dogfish of the family Centrophoridae.
The bareskin dogfish is a little-known, deepwater dogfish shark of the family Etmopteridae. This species is found in the western Pacific from southern Japan to western and southeastern Australia as well as in New Zealand waters.
The longnose velvet dogfish is a sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found circumglobally in southern hemisphere subtropical seas, at depths of between 230 and 1,500 m. It reaches a length of 130 cm. It has a diet consisting of predominantly mesopelagic fishes and squids.
The roughskin dogfish is a sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found around the world on continental shelves in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas, at depths of between 100 and 1,500 m. It reaches a length of 121 cm.
The prickly dogfish is a poorly known species of dogfish shark in the family Oxynotidae, inhabiting temperate Australian and New Zealand waters. Reaching a length of 75 cm (30 in), this brown to gray shark has a very thick body with a prominent "humpback" and extremely rough skin. It is further characterized by two enormous, sail-like dorsal fins placed relatively close together. Both dorsal fins have a spine embedded mostly within the fleshy leading portion of the fin; the first dorsal spine is tilted forward.
The sherwood dogfish or Sherwood's dogfish is a very rare sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found only around New Zealand. The only specimen studied was about 80 cm long.
The velvet dogfish, the only member of the genus Zameus, is a small sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found around the world between latitudes 64°N and 48°S, from the surface to 2,000 m.
The whitetail dogfish is a very rare sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found from the eastern Indian Ocean round southern Australia to New Zealand, at depths of between 150 and 500 m. Its length is up to 1.1 m.
The smooth lanternshark or slender lanternshark is a species of dogfish shark in the family Etmopteridae, found widely in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It inhabits benthic environments at a depth of 274–1,000 m (899–3,281 ft), and pelagic environments at a depth of 0–708 m (0–2,323 ft). The smooth lanternshark forms a species group with the larger blurred lanternshark, both of which are distinguished from other members of their family by small, irregularly arranged dermal denticles with a truncated shape. This species has a slender, dark brown body with an indistinct black band on the sides over the pelvic fins, and reaches 50 cm (20 in) in length. This slow-growing, ovoviviparous shark feeds on smaller squid, fishes, and fish eggs. Smooth lanternsharks are often caught as bycatch in eastern Atlantic and Japanese commercial fisheries. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has evaluated this species as of Least Concern because of its wide distribution and limited threats.
The southern sleeper shark or Whitley's sleeper shark is a deepwater benthopelagic sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae found in the southern Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Antarctic oceans.
The southern Mandarin dogfish is a species of Mandarin dogfish shark in the genus Cirrhigaleus. It was distinguished from Cirrhigaleus barbifer, which lives in the North Pacific, on an expedition in the coral reefs near Australia in 2007. It is now known to live in the temperate waters in south-eastern Australia and from the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand, at depths of 146–640 metres.
The northern spiny dogfish, also known as the brown dogfish, grey spiny dogfish or Griffin's dogfish, is a marine species of the family Squalidae, found off New Zealand's North Island. The length of the longest specimen measured is 89.9 cm (35.4 in).
The Kermadec spiny dogfish is a dogfish described in 2007. It is a member of the family Squalidae, found off the Kermadec Islands. The length of the longest specimen measured is 68.1 cm (26.8 in).
