| Quagga catshark | |
|---|---|
| |
| Specimen from Quilon, India | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
| Family: | Pentanchidae |
| Genus: | Halaelurus |
| Species: | H. quagga
|
| Binomial name | |
| Halaelurus quagga (Alcock, 1899)
| |
| |
| Range of the quagga catshark[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Scyllium quagga Alcock, 1899 | |
The quagga catshark (Halaelurus quagga) is a species of shark belonging to the family Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. A small, slim-bodied shark reaching 37 cm (15 in) in length, it has a distinctive color pattern of narrow, dark brown vertical bars, which resemble those of the quagga. Its head is short and flattened, with a pointed snout tip that is not upturned.
Little is known of the quagga catshark's natural history, as it is known only from nine specimens caught off southwestern India and eastern Somalia. Inhabiting the offshore waters of continental shelf at depths of 59–220 m (194–722 ft) or more, it is a bottom-dwelling predator of shrimps. It exhibits an oviparous mode of reproduction, with a record of a female containing eight eggs that were enclosed in brown capsules bearing long tendrils at the corners. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presently lacks sufficient data to assess the conservation status of this species. It is not economically valued but is taken as bycatch.
- ^ a b Ebert, D.A.; Tesfamichael, D.; Valinassab, T.; Akhilesh, K.V. (2017). "Halaelurus quagga". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T161625A109913019. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T161625A109913019.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.