Species: Scyliorhinus hesperius, Whitesaddled Cat Shark

Scyliorhinus hesperius Springer, 1966

Whitesaddled Cat Shark

Head and body relatively deep, fairly slender, tapering to tail fin; head slightly depressed, rounded in profile; a crest over eye; eye a horizontal oval; snout short; front nostril flap without barbel; lip furrows on lower jaws only; teeth similar on both jaws, with 3-5 (mainly 5) points, center point longest; 5 gill slits, last 2 over pectoral; two large dorsal fins, second much smaller than first; origin of 1st dorsal over end of pelvic base; origin of 2nd dorsal over last ½ of anal fin base; space between dorsal bases > anal fin base; pelvic and anal fins small; tail asymmetric, moderately long, its base without a keel, no crest of denticles along margins; skin denticles with 3 ridges and rear points, central point strong.

Head and body with 7-8 distinct dark saddles; a dark bar under eye; saddles and, often the rest of body densely covered with light spots >/= size of pupil; black spots absent.

Reaches 47 cm

On soft and hard bottoms

Depth range 200-1004 m.

The northwest to southern Caribbean.