Species: Apristurus parvipinnis, Smallfin Cat Shark

Apristurus parvipinnis Springer & Heemstra, 1979

Smallfin Cat Shark

Body soft and flabby, with thin skin; body compressed; head broad, flattened, pointed and wedge shaped in side view; snout broadly rounded, 8.5-10.7% TL, longer than mouth width; skull without crests above eyes; mouth long, arched, mostly under eyes; teeth with 4 (3-6) cusps; 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 2.9-3.6% 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 very small, much smaller than (1/2-1/4 area of) second, origin behind base of pelvics; origin of 2nd dorsal over ~middle of anal base; space between dorsals 6.7-9.4% TL; distance between pectoral and pelvic bases 11-14% TL; anal fin with very long base, base length 4-5X fin height, 16.1-18.6% TL, separated from tail fin by a small notch; tail fin elongate, top lobe with a subterminal notch, lower lobe weakly developed, with crest of denticles along top margin.

Uniform grey-brown to black.

Reaches 52 cm

Trawled from soft bottoms

Depth range 600-1220 m

Gulf of Mexico to French Guyana.