Catalog of Fishes


Etmopterus abernethyi

Garrick, 1957


Blackbelly lanternshark
Classification: Elasmobranchii Squaliformes Etmopteridae

Reference of the original description
Garrick, J.A.F. (1957)
Studies on New Zealand Elasmobranchii. Part VI. Two new species of Etmopterus from New Zealand. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 116(3), 169–190

Image of the original description

Etmopterus abernethyi Garrick, 1957, p. 183, fig. 3, holotype, NMMZ P.01951, immature male 330 mm TL, off south Kaikoura, New Zealand

Types
Etmopterus abernethyi
Holotype: NMNZ: P01951; Paratype: MCZ: 39714; NMNZ: P10650;

Images of types

Description :


Citation: Etmopterus abernethyi Garrick, 1957: In: Database of modern sharks, rays and chimaeras, www.shark-references.com, World Wide Web electronic publication, Version 03/2025

Please send your images of "Etmopterus abernethyi" to info@shark-references.com

Etmopterus abernethyi Garrick, 1957, fresh specimen, CSIRO H 8866-01, female 391 mm TL, east of Eaglehawk Neck, Tasman Sea, scale bar=20 mm © Ng et al. (2025)
Short Description
Diagnose after Ng et al. (2025) [34277]: A moderately large Etmopterus belonging to the E. lucifer group by having elongated anterior and posterior branches of lateral flank marking, and differing from other members by the following combination of characters: hook-like dermal denticles not overlapping each other, in well-defined rows; origin of second dorsal fin anterior to origin of base of flank-marking; infracaudal marking connected with caudal-fin base marking through pair of luminous lines; posterior caudal-fin marking long, length 30.2–46.5% caudal-fin length; and ventral pectoral marking strongly curved.

Distribution
Southwestern Pacific and also southeastern Indian Ocean, known from southeastern, southern, and southwestern Australia, the Tasman Sea, and around New Zealand, at depths of 180–872 m. Common at catches in research cruises in Australian waters (K Graham pers. comm.), uncommon in commercial trawlers around New Zealand (Roberts et al. 2015) [34277]

Size / Weight / Age
Up to 527 mm TL and 403 mm TL for females and males, respectively. Smallest mature male 325 mm TL; smallest of five mature females 432 mm TL. Smallest specimen studied here without umbilical scar measuring 206 mm TL [34277]

Habitat
marine, depth range 180–872 m [34277]

Dentition
Teeth dissimilar in upper and lower jaw, with strong ontogenetic change and sexual dimorphism; upper teeth multicuspid, in three functional series; in lower jaw unicuspid, in three series, one functional; lower teeth blade-like, with strongly oblique cusp. No distinctive symphyseal and intermediate teeth. Upper teeth central cusp rather thick; immature males and females with 1–2, rarely 3, cusplets on each side of the upper-teeth cusp, but mature males with 3–4 cusplets, rarely 2; in mature individuals, longest cusplet length about twothird of the cusp in mature individuals; cusp and cusplets of upper teeth narrowly triangular, lower teeth of mature individuals not erected. Tooth count of upper jaw 22–28 (23), lower jaw 32–42, total count 54–70 [34277].

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=2153;