Species: Squatina dumeril, Atlantic Angel Shark

Squatina dumeril (Lesueur, 1818)

Atlantic Angel Shark

Moderately large, flattened, ray-like; head and body greatly flattened; head a transverse oval in top view, with a distinct neck; folds on side of head low; strongly concave between large eyes on top of head; a pair of large spiracles behind eyes; eye-spiracle space <1.5X eye; nostrils at top of snout, nasal barbells with simple, tapering tips, rear edges of front nasal flaps narrow and smooth or weakly fringed, rear nasal flaps enlarged, not fringed; mouth opens at front; top jaw with 18-20 smooth teeth, lower jaw with 20; five long gill slits under head; two small, equal sized oval dorsal fins near tail base, similar in size & shape; pectoral fins greatly enlarged, triangular, with straight front edges and no front shoulder, front tips narrowly rounded, rear edge slightly concave, rear tips narrowly rounded to angular, inner edges broadly convex and rounded, well separated by deep notches from head and pelvic fins; pelvic fins smaller, triangular; no anal fin; tail fin very short, nearly symmetrical, lower lobe slightly longer; skin denticles on top of back loosely spaced apart, rough, fairly sharp, broadly hooked, with 4+ front ridges; center of back with a row of hooked thorns from nape to 1st dorsal fin, between the dorsals (and behind them in young); head with small but prominent thorns on snout and between eyes, and a few between spiracles, those becoming more numerous and forming patches in adults.

Top surface blue-grey to light grey, with or without discrete dark spotting; bottom surface white; young with faint symmetrical white spots on top surface.

Size: 152 cm; size at birth 28-30 cm.

Habitat: Generally found close inshore but may descend to great depths.

Depth: 26-1375 m, usually 60-250 m.

Western North Atlantic; Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico.

Note: Currently S. heteroptera and S. mexicana (from the southern Gulf of Mexico) are regarded as synonyms of S. dumeril.