Apristurus laurussonii, Iceland catshark

Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)

Iceland catshark
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Apristurus laurussonii   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Apristurus laurussonii (Iceland catshark)
Apristurus laurussonii
Picture by Dolgov, A.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Pentanchidae (Deepwater catsharks)
Etymology: Apristurus: a-, Latin privative, i.e., without; pristis, from pristes (Gr.), sawyer (but here meaning saw); oura (Gr.), tail, referring to absence of saw-toothed crest of enlarged dermal denticles along upper edge of caudal fin as found in the closely related Pristiurus (=Galeus) (See ETYFish); laurussonii: In honor of Saemundsson’s friend Gísli Lárusson (1865-1935), goldsmith, watchmaker, farmer and nature enthusiast, for his “long and invaluable support of the study of Icelandic fishes, and for carefully encouraging the skillful fishermen of Vestmannaeyjar Island [near type locality]” (translation) (See ETYFish).
Eponymy: Gísli Láurusson (1865–1935) was an Icelander described as ‘Hr Direktur’. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 560 - 1550 m (Ref. 97621). Deep-water; 67°N - 11°N, 98°W - 11°E (Ref. 56872)

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Massachusetts and Delaware, USA and the northern Gulf of Mexico. Eastern Atlantic: Iceland, southwestern Ireland, Canary Islands and Madeira.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 76.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 97621); 69.0 cm TL (female)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Fairly common on the upper continental slopes, usually over mud or other soft sea bottom (Ref. 9996). Oviparous (Ref. 50449).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Compagno, L.J.V., 1999. Checklist of living elasmobranchs. p. 471-498. In W.C. Hamlett (ed.) Sharks, skates, and rays: the biology of elasmobranch fishes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Maryland. (Ref. 35766)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 19 June 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
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Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00347 (0.00171 - 0.00701), b=3.09 (2.91 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.0   ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec assumed to be <10).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100). 🛈
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 9.53 [1.72, 58.09] mg/100g; Iron = 0.338 [0.075, 1.163] mg/100g; Protein = 18.8 [16.7, 21.0] %; Omega3 = 0.234 [0.090, 0.612] g/100g; Selenium = 16.1 [4.9, 53.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.11 [1.23, 28.29] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.296 [0.148, 0.550] mg/100g (wet weight);