Species: Apristurus laurussonii, Flathead catshark, Icelandic catshark, Madeira catshark

Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)

Icelandic catshark,  Madeira catshark,  Flathead catshark

Body soft and flabby, with thin skin; body  compressed; head broad, flattened, pointed and wedge shaped in side view; snout relatively short, <8% TL, tip bluntly pointed, longer than mouth width; skull without crests above eyes; mouth short, arched, reaches to under front edge of eyes; teeth with 3 (usually)-5 cusps, central cusp longest; lip furrows very long, upper furrows extend forwards to level of front of mouth,  lower furrows shorter than uppers; nostrils large, upper flap pointed, reach across nostrils; eyes relatively large (orbit length 2.5-3% TL, high on sides of head, with a crest below them;  5 gill slits, on sides of head, length < eye;  2 dorsal fins small, at rear of body, without spines; 1st dorsal slightly larger than second, origin  over/slightly behind center of base of pelvics; origin of 2nd dorsal over  ~middle of anal base;  space between dorsals 9.1-10.5% TL, > 1st dorsal base; distance between pectoral and pelvic bases 15-17.8% TL;  anal fin very large, angular, starts at tips of pelvics, separated from tail fin by a very small notch, base 14.6-17% TL;  tail fin elongate, top lobe with a subterminal notch, lower lobe weakly developed, without crest of denticles along top margin; flank denticles with 3 points (central point longest) central ridge strongest.