Common names
Blackmouth lanternshark

Short Description
Body slender. Dorsal and ventral coloration strongly contrasted; dots and dashes absent on upper half; dark ventral saddle on posterior third of caudal peduncle; prominent dark bands at the tip and through mid caudal fin. Eyes rather narrow; upper eyelid with pale naked patch. Caudal peduncle elongate (18.9-21.8% TL). Denticles extremely dense, very thin, delicate, arranged in poorly defined longitudinal rows. Flank marking base under or slightly forward of second dorsal spine; its posterior branch barely reaching free rear tip of second dorsal fin; central caudal marking absent; finger of caudal base marking very long, more than 7% TL. Monospondylous centra 37-38 (Ref. 45056).

Distribution
Eastern Indian Ocean: Western Australia and Arafura Sea.

Biology
Distinct pairing with embrace [17086]. Found on the continental slope (Ref. 75154).

Size / Weight / Age
26.2 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 45056)); 29.7 cm TL (female)

Habitat
bathypelagic; marine; depth range 430 - 550 m (Ref. 45056)

Dentition
Description: Three series of functional teeth in upper jaw, one series in lower; teeth dissimilar in upper and lower jaws; upper teeth small, erect, multicuspid; usually with 5 cusps in both sexes (occasionally with 3 cusps in symphysis); outer cusps sometimes obscure; middle and outer cusps slightly oblique to central cusp; central cusp and middle pair similar in shape, rather broad based, middle pair about half height of central cusps, about three times length of lateral pair; lower teeth unicuspid, interlocking, blade-like, extremely oblique lower margin very short [1384];

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=2170;