Prickly dogfish | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Order: | Squaliformes |
Family: | Oxynotidae |
Genus: | Oxynotus |
Species: | O. bruniensis
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Binomial name | |
Oxynotus bruniensis (J. D. Ogilby, 1893)
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Range of the prickly dogfish | |
Synonyms | |
Centrina bruniensis J. D. Ogilby, 1893 |
The prickly dogfish (Oxynotus bruniensis) 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.
Found near the sea floor over outer continental and insular shelves and upper slopes, the prickly dogfish is thought to be a slow-moving predator of small benthic organisms. It is aplacental viviparous, with females giving birth to litters of around seven pups. This species is an uncommon bycatch of bottom trawls.