Animal Species:Bigeye Sixgill Shark, Hexanchus nakamurai Teng, 1962

As its standard name implies, the species has particularly large eyes.  It lives at depths from 90 m to 600 m in tropical and warm temperate waters.

Head of a Bigeye Sixgill Shark

Head of a Bigeye Sixgill Shark
Ian Kerr © Ian Kerr

Identification

The Bigeye Sixgill Shark has 6 pairs of gill slits, large eyes, comb-like teeth and a long upper caudal fin lobe.

Size range

It grows to around 1.8 m in length. The fish in the images is 1.56 m long.

Distribution

The species has a patchy worldwide distribution in tropical and warm temperate waters.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Hexanchus nakamurai

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Bigeye Sixgill Shark specimens in the Australian Museums.

What does this mean?

Habitat

Shelf and slope waters between 90 m and 600 m.

Feeding and Diet

Little is known of its diet.  Stomach contents have included fishes and one crustacean.

Classification

Species:
nakamurai
Genus:
Hexanchus
Family:
Hexanchidae
Order:
Hexanchiformes
Class:
Chondrichthyes
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

Further Reading

  1. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.
  2. Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Edition 2. CSIRO. Pp. 644, Pl. 1-91.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Bigeye Sixgill Shark, Hexanchus nakamurai, Hexanchidae,