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The
angelshark,
Squatina squatina, is a species of
angel shark,
family Squatinidae, once widespread in the coastal waters of the northeastern
Atlantic Ocean. Well-adapted for
camouflaging itself on the sea floor, the angelshark has a flattened form with enlarged
pectoral and
pelvic fins, giving it a superficial resemblance to a
ray. This species can be identified by its broad and stout body, conical
barbels, thornless back (in larger individuals), and grayish or brownish dorsal coloration with a pattern of numerous small light and dark markings (that is more vivid in juveniles). It measures up to 2.4 m (7.9 ft) long.
Like other members of its family, the angelshark is a nocturnal ambush predator that buries itself in sediment and waits for passing prey, mostly benthic bony fishes but also skates and invertebrates. An ovoviviparous species, females bear litters of 7–25 pups every other year. The angelshark normally poses little danger to humans, though if provoked it is quick to bite. Used for food since at least Ancient Greece, this shark is often sold on European markets under the name "monkfish". Since the mid-20th century, high levels of commercial fishing across the angelshark's range have decimated its population via bycatch – it is now locally extinct or nearly so across most of its northern range, and the prospects of the remaining fragmented subpopulations are made more precarious by its low reproductive rate. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Critically Endangered.
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WikiProjects related to sharks:
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The jaw of a shortfin mako shark. The species feeds mainly upon cephalopods, bony fishes including mackerel, tuna, bonito, and swordfish, but it may also eat other sharks, porpoises, sea turtles, and seabirds.
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- ... that male Arabian carpetsharks competing for a mate have been known to bite the claspers of their rivals?
- ... that the porbeagle has been known to "play" with kelp fronds, pieces of wood, and fishing floats?
- ... that the blind shark and the bluegrey carpetshark close their eyes when taken out of the water?
- ... that male Arabian carpetsharks competing for a mate have been known to bite the claspers of their rivals?
- ... that the whitefin, Cook's, Australian reticulate, spotted, leopard-spotted, painted, flagtail, speckled, saddled, and narrowbar swellsharks were all scientifically described in 2008, more than doubling the number of species in the genus Cephaloscyllium?
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Shark · Outline of sharks
Shark orders
Carcharhiniformes (groundsharks) · Cladoselachiformes (extinct) · Eugeneodontida (extinct) · Heterodontiformes (bullhead sharks) · Hexanchiformes (most primitive sharks) · Hybodontiformes (extinct) · Iniopterygia (extinct) · Lamniformes (mackerel sharks) · Orectolobiformes (carpet sharks and relatives) · Pristiophoriformes (sawsharks and relatives) · Squaliformes (gulper sharks, bramble sharks, lantern sharks, rough sharks, sleeper sharks, dogfish sharks and relatives) · Squatiniformes (angel sharks) · Symmoriida (extinct) · Xenacanthida (also known as Xenacantiformes, extinct)
Major species
Basking shark · Blue shark · Bull shark · Great hammerhead · Great white shark · Grey reef shark · Hammerhead shark · Megalodon · Megamouth shark · Nurse shark · Oceanic whitetip shark · Requiem shark · Scalloped hammerhead · Shortfin mako shark · Swellshark · Thresher shark · Tiger shark · Whale shark
Shark biology
Ampullae of Lorenzini · Mermaid's purses · Physical characteristics of sharks · Shark teeth · Shark threat display
Shark-human interaction
Attack (drum lines, International Shark Attack File, Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, list of fatal, unprovoked shark attacks in the United States, shark net, shark proof cage, shark suit, Summer of the Shark) · Captivity (shark tunnel) · Conservation (grey nurse shark conservation, Shark Alliance, Shark Conservation Act, Shark Trust) · Fishing (International Land-Based Shark Fishing Association, land-based shark fishing) · Products (shark cartilage, shark finning, shark fin soup, shark liver oil)
Sharks in culture
Sharks in popular culture · The Gulf Stream (painting) · The Headington Shark · "Helicopter Shark" · Jabberjaw · Jaws (film) (Jaws (novel), Jaws (film series)) · Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror · The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living · Shark Tale · Sharky & George · Sherman's Lagoon · Street Sharks · Watson and the Shark
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