| Atlantic sixgill shark | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Hexanchiformes |
| Family: | Hexanchidae |
| Genus: | Hexanchus |
| Species: | H. vitulus
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| Binomial name | |
| Hexanchus vitulus Springer and Waller, 1969
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| Distribution of Hexanchus vitulus (red) and Hexanchus nakamurai (blue) | |
The Atlantic sixgill shark (Hexanchus vitulus) is a rare species of hexanchid shark found in the Atlantic Ocean at depths that are greater than 300 meters.[1] These depths are known as mesopelagic and bathypelagic in tropical and temperate waters around the world.[1] The Atlantic sixgill shark is very similar to other species of sixgill in terms of its growth rate in deep sea waters. It is believed that this is due to the abiotic and biotic factors in relation to the depths at which they are found.[1] It was formerly described as its own species, but was synonymised with the bigeye sixgill shark (Hexanchus nakamurai). However, a study published in 2019 resurrected the species on the basis of molecular data. The species can be physically differentiated from the bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus) by its much smaller size and position of the dorsal fin in relation to the caudal fin.[1][2] The Atlantic sixgill shark (Hexanchus vitulus) becomes sexually mature at around 1.40 to 1.75 meters. They do not reach lengths much greater than 180 cm.[3]
- ^ a b c d Daly-Engel, T. S., Baremore, I. E., Grubbs, R. D., Gulak, S. J., Graham, R. T., & Enzenauer, M. P. (2019). Resurrection of the sixgill shark Hexanchus vitulus Springer & Waller, 1969 (Hexanchiformes, Hexanchidae), with comments on its distribution in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Marine Biodiversity, 49(2), 759–768.
- ^ "New species of shark discovered through genetic testing". Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ Springer, S., & Waller, R. A. (1969). Hexanchus vitulus, a new sixgill shark from the Bahamas. Bulletin of Marine Science, 19(1), 159–174. From using 1,310 base pairs of two mitochondrial genes, COI and ND2, it is confirmable that bigeye sixgill sharks from the Atlantic Ocean (Belize, Gulf of Mexico, and Bahamas) branched out from those in the Pacific and Indian Oceans (Japan, La Reunion, and Madagascar) having 7.037% sequence divergence.