Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 1318 No. 1: 21 Sept. 2006
Type: Articles
Published: 2006-09-21
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1318.1.2
Page range: 41–58
Abstract views: 85
PDF downloaded: 2

Description of Haploblepharus kistnasamyi, a new catshark (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) from South Africa

Shark Research Centre, South African Museum, Iziko - Museums of Cape Town, PO Box 61 Cape Town 8000, South Africa
Shark Research Centre, South African Museum, Iziko - Museums of Cape Town, PO Box 61 Cape Town 8000, South Africa
Pisces Haploblepharus kistnasamyi sp. nov. Scyliorhinidae Carcharhiniformes taxonomy South Africa

Abstract

A new species of catshark, Haploblepharus kistnasamyi sp. nov. (Class Chondrichthyes, Order Carcharhiniformes, Family Scyliorhinidae) is described from kwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The type series includes the holotype, RUSI 39835, and two paratypes, RUSI 6075 and RUSI 6077. This species was previously recognised as a variant of H. edwardsii (Schinz 1822), which occurs along the southern coast of South Africa. The colour pattern of H. kistnasamyi is superficially similar to H. edwardsii although distinct; however H. kistnasamyi is distinguished from all other Haploblepharus in having a stockier build compared to its congeners, a less depressed head and trunk, and a compressed caudal peduncle.

References

  1. Bass, A.J. (1986) Scyliorhinidae. In Smith, M M. & Heemstra, P C. (Ed.), Smiths' Sea Fishes. Macmillan South Africa (Publishers) (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, 88–95.

    Bass, A.J., D'Aubrey, J.D. & Kistnasamy, N. (1975) Sharks of the East Coast of Southern Africa. II. The Families Scyliorhinidae and Pseudotriakidae. Investigational Report of the Oceanographic Research Institute, 37, 1–64.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1970) Systematics of the genus Hemitriakis (Selachii: Carcharhinidae), and related genera. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 38(4), 63–98.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1984a) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date. Part 1. Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No.125, Vol.4 , Part 1, 1–249.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1984b) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No.125, Vol.4 , Part 2, 251–655.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1988) Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes, 1st Reprint (2003), The Blackburn Press, Caldwell, New Jersey, xii + 572pp.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1999) An overview of chondrichthyan systematics and biodiversity in southern Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 54(1), 75–120.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (2001) Sharks of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date. Volume 2. Bullhead, Mackerel and Carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes), FAO, Rome, 269pp.

    Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. & Fowler, S.L. (2005) Sharks of the World (Princeton Field Guides), Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 368pp.

    Compagno, L.J.V., Ebert, D.A. & Smale, M.J. (1989) Guide to the Sharks and Rays of Southern Africa, New Holland (Publishers) Ltd, London, 158pp.

    Compagno, L.J.V. & Human, B.A. (2003) Checklist of chondrichthyans for the subequatorial African region, Atlantic, Indian, and Antarctic Oceans. SRC Technical Report, SRC20030718, 43pp.

    Garman, S. (1913) The Plagiostomia. (Sharks, Skates and Rays). Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Vol. XXXVI, Benthic Press, Los Angeles, California, 1st Reprint (1997). lxxiii + 515pp.

    Human, B.A. (2003) Taxonomy and Molecular Phylogeny of some Southern African Catsharks (Scyliorhinidae; Chondrichthyes), PhD Thesis, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, xii, 257pp + appendices.

    Human, B.A., Owen, E.P., Compagno, L.J.V. & Harley, E.H. (2006) Testing morphologically based phylogenetic theories within the cartilaginous fishes with molecular data, with special reference to the catshark family (Chondrichthyes; Scyliorhinidae) and the interrelationships within them. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 39(2), 384–391.

    Müller, J. & Henle, J. (1838–1841) Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen, Verlag von Veitund Comp., Berlin. xxii + 1–28 (1838), 27–28 (reset) & 29–102 (1839), 103–204 (1841).

    Schinz, HR. (1822) Das Thierreich eingeteilt nach dem Bau der Thiere als Grundlage ihrer Naturgeschichte und die vergleichende Anatomie, Cotta, Stuttgart & Tubingen, xvi, 835pp.

    Smith, J.L.B. (1949) The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa, Central News Agency, Ltd, South Africa, 550pp.

    Smith, J.L.B. (1950) A new dogfish from South Africa, with notes on other Chondrichthyan fishes. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, ser. 12, 3(34), 878–887.

    Springer, S. (1979) A revision of the catsharks, Family Scyliorhinidae. NOAA Technical Report NMFS Circular, 422, 1–152.