Species: Galeus arae, Marbled catshark, Roughtail catshark

Galeus arae  (Nichols, 1927)

Roughtail catshark, Marbled catshark    

Body slender, firm, thick skin; head slightly depressed; snout = / < than mouth width, thick, not flattened, pointed, relatively short, 5-7% TL before mouth; no crests on skull over eyes; ridge under eye narrow to absent;  nasal flaps broad, triangular, low, without barbels;  no grooves from nostrils to mouth; mouth short, broadly arched; central teeth with long, narrow central cusp & a smaller cusp on each side; side teeth with smaller central cusp, 2-3 pairs of side cusps;  lip furrows on both jaws, moderately long, but ending well short of front of mouth; eyes on sides of head;  dorsal fins 2, equal sized; origin of 1st dorsal over front 1/3 of pelvic base;  origin of 2nd dorsal over to slightly behind center of anal fin base; pectorals relatively large; anal fin large, elongate, relatively short, its base 8.7-13.6% TL, its origin behind tip of 1st dorsal fin, its free rear tip ends well before (by distance > / = length of eye) lower tail fin origin; tail fin elongate, ~1/4 TL;  top edge of tail fin with a crest of various rows of enlarged denticles, top of crest flattened, side-row denticles asymmetrical (& much larger than those in center-rows), project laterally, covering a band of naked skin separating crest from normal denticles on rest of tail; under tail base without a denticle crest.