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Species: Etmopterus virens, Green Lantern Shark

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

moderately slender
under snout: no denticles
D1 origin over inner pectoral margin
D2 twice D1
fin edges not hairy
denticles: low, robust, hooked, conical points, not in rows
pectoral rounded

Etmopterus virens Bigelow, Schroeder & Springer, 1953

Green Lantern Shark

Body moderately slender; head and snout flattened, at level of eyes head is wider than deep; snout moderately short, its underside WITHOUT denticles; no nictitating eyelids; spiracle large, behind eye; mouth short, at acute angle; upper teeth with a narrow central point plus 2 smaller points on each side, 29-34 rows, lower teeth compressed and blade-like, with small, oblique tips, 24-32 rows; five gill slits, all before pectoral base, very short; two dorsal fins, second >2X area of first, both with long thick grooved spines; first dorsal with origin over inner pectoral margin, center of first dorsal much closer to pectoral fin axil than to origin of the pelvics; space between dorsal fins less than distance from snout to pectoral fin origin; pectoral fin rounded; no anal fin; fins without hairy borders; no ridges between pectoral and pelvic fins, no precaudal pits, no keel on tail base; tail long, narrow; tail fin strongly asymmetrical, notch at top; denticles on sides of body with short, stout, hooked, conical points, irregularly & widely spaced, not in rows.

Dark brown to grey-black above; under snout and abdomen black; an elongate narrow dark mark above and behind pelvic, others on underside of tail, and base and axis of tail fin; a pale yellow spot between eyes.

Size: 26 cm.

Habitat: Outer continental shelf and upper slopes.

Depth: 100-915 m

The SE USA, through the Gulf of Mexico to the southern Caribbean.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Offshore
  • Offshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom + water column
  • Near Bottom
Habitat
  • Water column
FishBase Habitat
  • Bathydemersal
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Live birth
  • No pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • GC endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 26
Depth Range Min
  • 100
Depth Range Max
  • 915