Halaelurus quagga
Scientific Name:-
Halaelurus quaggaCommon Name:-
Quagga Catshark
Malayalam Name:-
Quagga Poocha Sravu
Category:-
Fishes
Status:-
Classified as Data Deficient in IUCN Redlist of species.
Image courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Description:-
Snout tip pointed, but not strongly upturned and knoblike; eyes in adults 12 to 13 times in distance from snout to first dorsal origin; anterior nasal flaps subtriangular; labial furrows rather short, essentially confined to mouth corners, but lowers extending at least 5 mm onto lower jaw; mouth moderately large, its width 6 to 9% of total length, its length 4% of total length; papillae absent from pharynx?; gills directed dorsolaterad, elevated above level of mouth. First dorsal origin about opposite pelvic insertions; second dorsal somewhat larger than first, with origin about opposite or slightly behind anal insertion; abdomen short in adults, distance between pectoral and pelvic bases 1.2 times pectoral anterior margin; length of anal base about 1.1 to 1.3 times the second dorsal base, considerably shorter than distance between dorsal bases. Colour light brown above, lighter below, with over 20 dark brown narrow vertical bars, with pairs forming saddles under dorsal fins but otherwise single, no spots between bars.
Threats:-
In Kerala caught occasionally in trawl nets.
Remark:-
This is one of the poorest known scyliorhinid sharks of the world, described from a single specimen collected from Kerala coast by Alcock (1899). Akhilesh et al. (2011) rediscovered and re-described the species from Kerala coast.
Habitat:-
Marine; bathydemersal
Synonyms:-
Scyliorhinus quagga (Alcock, 1899)
Scyllium quagga Alcock, 1899
References:-
Akhilesh, K.V., K.K. Bineesh, C.P.R. Shanis, B.A. Human & U. Ganga 2011. Rediscovery and description of the quagga shark, Halaelurus quagga (Alcock, 1899) (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) from the southwest coast of India, Zootaxa, 2781: 40-48.
Alcock, A.W. 1899. A descriptive catalogue of the Indian deep-sea fishes in the Indian Museum. Being a revised account of the deep-sea fishes collected by the Royal Indian marine survey ship "Investigator." Calcutta: i-iii + 1-211 + i-viiiCompagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. and Fowler, S.L. 2005. Sharks of the World. Harper Collins.
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.
Venkataraman, K., John Milton, M.C. and Raghuram, K.P. 2003. Handbook on Sharks of Indian Waters: Diversity, Fishery status, Trade and Conservation. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?genusname=Halaelurus&speciesname=quagga
http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=sharks&id=355