A sawshark or saw shark is a member of a shark order bearing a unique long, saw-like rostrum edged with sharp teeth, which they use to slash and disable their prey. There are eight species within the Pristiophoriformes, including the longnose or common sawshark, shortnose sawshark, Japanese sawshark, Bahamas sawshark, sixgill sawshark, African dwarf sawshark, Lana's sawshark and the tropical sawshark.
Flake is a term used in Australia to indicate the flesh of any of several species of baby shark, particularly the gummy shark. The term probably arose in the late 1920s when the large-scale commercial shark fishery off the coast of Victoria was established. Until that time, shark was generally an incidental catch rather than a targeted species.
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. While these common names may apply to several species, Squalus acanthias is distinguished by two spines and no anal fin. It lives in shallow waters and further offshore in most parts of the world, especially in temperate waters. Those in the northern Pacific Ocean were reevaluated in 2010 and found to constitute a separate species, now called the Pacific spiny dogfish .
The school shark is a houndshark of the family Triakidae, and the only member of the genus Galeorhinus. Common names also include tope, tope shark, snapper shark, and soupfin shark. It is found worldwide in temperate seas at depths down to about 800 m (2,600 ft). It can grow to nearly 2 m long. It feeds both in midwater and near the seabed, and its reproduction is ovoviviparous. This shark is caught in fisheries for its flesh, its fins, and its liver, which has a very high vitamin A content. The IUCN has classified this species as critically endangered in its Red List of Threatened Species.
The Bahamas sawshark, Pristiophorus schroederi, is a sawshark of the family Pristiophoridae, found in the western Central Atlantic Ocean from the Bahamas and Cuba at depths of between 400 and 1,000 m. These sharks are at least 80 cm long.
The gummy shark, also known as the Australian smooth hound, flake, sweet william or smooth dog-shark, is a shark in the family Triakidae. These small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling sharks are found mostly in, but are not limited to, the area around the southern seas of Australia and is commonly baited and fished for cuisine because of its taste and market prices. According to a 2021 paper by White, Arunrugstichai & Naylorn (2021), Mustelus walkeri is the same animal as M. antarcticus. One theory is that M. walkeri is a subpopulation of M. antarcticus.
The slender smooth-hound or gollumshark is a species of ground shark in the family Pseudotriakidae. It is endemic to the waters around New Zealand, where it is usually found close to the bottom over the continental slope at depths of 300–600 m (980–1,970 ft). An extremely slim, plain brownish shark reaching 1.1 m (3.6 ft) in length, the slender smooth-hound can be identified by its broad, flattened head with a long, distinctively bell-shaped snout. Its mouth is angular with short furrows at the corners, and contains a very high number of tooth rows in both jaws. Its two dorsal fins are roughly equal in size.
The whitecheek shark or widemouth blackspot shark is a requiem shark of the family Carcharhinidae, found in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean between latitudes 34°N and 25°S. It can reach a length of 1 m. It feeds mainly on fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans. It is a viviparous species, with the female giving birth to up to four live young.
The Japanese sawshark is a species of sawshark in the family Pristiophoridae. This shark has a long, narrow rostrum. Its first dorsal fin originates behind the tips of the pectoral fins, and its caudal fin is angled almost straight in line with the body. The Japanese sawshark reaches a maximum length of up to 1.36 m.
The longnose sawshark or common sawshark, is a sawshark of the family Pristiophoridae.
The sixgill sawshark, Pliotrema warreni is a sawshark of the family Pristiophoridae. Presence of 6 pairs of gill slits highlights this genus among sharks; outside Hexanchiformes order, Pliotrema is the only shark with more than 5 gill slits. Unlike other sawsharks, the barbs on this shark's rostrum continue onto the sides of the head. Its barbels are also closer to its mouth than in other species. At maximum, females can reach over 136 cm long, and males can reach over 112 cm long.
The bluegrey carpetshark or Colclough's shark, is an uncommon species of carpet shark endemic to shallow inshore waters off northeastern Australia. It is one of the two extant members of the family Brachaeluridae. The bluegrey carpetshark has a stocky body with a wide, slightly flattened head, dorsally placed eyes, and a pair of long barbels with posterior skin flaps. It has large pectoral fins, two dorsal fins of unequal size placed far back on the body, and a sizable space between the anal fin and the base of the caudal fin. Growing to 76 cm (30 in) long, this species has a black-and-white color pattern as a juvenile, which largely fades with age such as that adults are brownish.
The Atlantic weasel shark is a weasel shark of the family Hemigaleidae, found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Also known as the little tiger shark, it is the only species of the genus Paragaleus to have been recorded off the western coast of Africa. It is one of four species of small sharks within the carcharhinoid genus Paragaleus, including Paragaleus leucolomatus, Paragaleus tengi, and Paragaleus randalli. It also one of eight species within the weasel shark family, Hemigaleidae. It is currently considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Endangered.
The shortnose spurdog also known as the piked spurdog is a small shark located primarily off the coast of Southern Australia and South Africa. The shortnose spurdog's size is dependent on the sex of the animal. The female shortnose spurdog is consistently larger than the male shortnose spurdog and will typically measure out to about 56.41 cm (1.85 ft) while the male shortnose spurdog will typically only measure out to about 44.36 cm in length (1.46 ft) which means the female shortnose spurdog is over 10 cm longer than the male shortnose spurdog. Some females can even measure up to 78 cm which is over 2.5 feet long. The life span of spurdog's can be quite long with females typically living longer than males. The average life span of a female shortnose spurdog is 0–29 years old while the male life span is 0-26 though it is estimated that a female can live up to 46 years while a male can only live up to 33. Females also take longer to reach sexual maturity than males and on average are not fertile until they are over 15 years of age. 7 years longer than the 8 years it takes males to reach maturity. The shortnose spurdog's eat a variety of items but primarily favor cephalopods such as squid and octopuses for their meals. Other organisms that have been found in their stomachs include fish, hermit crabs, sponges, brittle stars, the remains of sea lion and even primary producers such as algae.
The Caribbean roughshark is a rough shark of the family Oxynotidae, found on the upper continental slopes of the Caribbean Sea, at depths between 400 and 450 m. It reaches a length around 50 cm (20 in).
The spotless smooth-hound is a species of houndshark, in the family Triakidae, found on the continental shelves of the northwest Pacific, between latitudes 40° N and 11° N, from the surface to a depth of 300 m. It can grow to a length of up to 1 m.
The Australian angelshark is a species of angelshark, family Squatinidae, found in the subtropical waters of southern Australia from Western Australia to New South Wales between latitudes 18°S and 41°S, at depths down to 255 m (840 ft). Its length is up to 1.52 m (5 ft). Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with up to 20 pups in a litter.
Pristiophorus is a genus of sawsharks found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Members of this genus differ from the Sixgill Sawshark (Pliotrema warreni) in having five gill slits. Their rostral sawteeth lack prominent transverse ridges on the basal ledges, and the large teeth are not posteriorly serrated.
The tropical sawshark, Pristiophorus delicatus, is a recently described species of sawshark, family Pristiophoridae, formerly known in literature as Pristiophorus sp. B. It is endemic to northeastern Australia, found on the upper continental slope off Queensland from south of the Samaurez Reef, at a depth of 246–405 meters (807–1,329 ft). Its specific epithet delicatus is Latin for "delicate", referring to the fine teeth on its saw-like rostrum.
The eastern shovelnose ray is a species of guitarfish in the family Rhinobatidae of order Rhinopristiformes. The species is endemic to the east coast of Australia and inhabits subtropical and temperate waters from southern Queensland to southern New South Wales.
