Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system

Español  Contact

Species: Squalus cubensis, Cuban Dogfish, Cuban Dogfish Shark

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

slender
D1 spine before pectoral free tip
D spines long, slender
Ds tips black; pectoral & anal edges white
flank denticles - 1 point
pectoral rear edge very concave, free tip sharply pointed

Squalus cubensis Howell Rivero, 1936

Cuban Dogfish, Cuban Dogfish Shark

Body elongate and narrow, head and snout narrow, pointed; eyes without nictitating membrane; spiracle a large half-moon just behind eye; anterior nasal flap narrow; distance from tip of snout to inner corner of nostril less than distance from inner corner of nostril to groove in upper lip; teeth similar in both jaws, compressed, a single deeply notched cusp; 5 gill slits, all before pectorals; a slender, long spine at front of each dorsal fin; first dorsal fin origin over middle of inner margin of pectoral fin; second dorsal fin much smaller than first; pectoral fin with deeply concave rear edge, rear tip angular and pointed; upper tail base pit well developed, lower pit absent; tail fin without a notch under its tip, with large lower lobe; denticles on flank small, elongate & with single point in adults.

Dark grey above light grey to whitish below, no with marks on sides, apex of dorsal fins broadly black; conspicuous white rear edges to pectoral and tail fins.

Size: 110 cm.

Habitat: lives near the bottom of the outer continental shelf.

Depth: 60-904 m, juveniles shallower than adults.

North Carolina to Argentina.


High Resolution Map Download

Species Data Create Report Export as Word File Export as Excel File
Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom + water column
  • Near Bottom
Habitat
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Water column
  • Mud
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Bentho-Pelagic
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
  • Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Live birth
  • No pelagic larva
  • No pelagic phase
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean non-endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Also in Brazil
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Extends N + S of GC
  • Extends North of GC
  • Extends South of GC
  • GC non-endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Temperate (>35N)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Data deficient
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 110
Depth Range Min
  • 60
Depth Range Max
  • 904