Genus: Oxynotus, Rough Shark, Rough Sharks

OXYNOTUS

ROUGH SHARKS

Body strongly compressed, very high, with a triangular cross–section; abdomen with strong lateral ridges; head moderately broad and somewhat flattened; snout flattened; spiracles large to enormous, close behind eyes; five gill slits; mouth nearly transverse and very short and small, with thick, papillose lips; labial furrows elongated, entirely encircling mouth, and under posterior halves of eyes, elongated posteriorly into postoral grooves; upper & lower teeth different, upper teeth much smaller, with single narrow erect smooth cusp; lower teeth highly compressed, serrated, broad and blade-like; skin denticles large, on stalks, with flattened, trident–like cusps, surface of skin extremely rough; dorsal fins very large, broad, angular, high, sail–like and often falcate, with strong stout spines nearly completely buried in the fins and with ungrooved exposed tips; 2nd dorsal smaller than first; pectoral fins high, pointed; pelvic fins smaller than pectoral fins and dorsal fins; anal fin absent; tail fin with ventral lobe weakly developed in adults, and with subterminal notch strong.

An Atlantic and Pacific genus with five species, one in the Greater Caribbean.