Animal Species:Frill Shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus Garman, 1884

The Frill Shark has a long slender eel-like body and a large mouth.  It lives in continental slope waters where it feeds in caves and crevices.

Frill Shark head

Frill Shark head
Carl Bento © Australian Museum

Alternative Name/s

Frill-gilled Shark

Identification

The Frill Shark can be recognised by its slender eel-like body, six pairs of gill slits, terminal mouth, three-pronged teeth, single dorsal fin, caudal fin without a lower lobe, and brown colour.

The jaws can be opened very wide. Little effort was required to open the mouth wide enough to take the photographs of  the upper and lower jaws on this page.

The Frill Shark's teeth at the margins of the jaw are gradually replaced by those behind. The teeth have three long cusps with a tiny cusplet at the base of each "V" formed by the the large cusps.

Chlamydoselachus anguineus is the only living species in the Family Chlamydoselachidae.

Size range

The species grows to a maximum length of about 2 m.

Similar Species

Distribution

In Australia, the species has been caught from off New South Wales and Tasmania.

Distribution by collection data

Biomaps map of Frill Shark specimens in the Australian Museum collection.

What does this mean?

Habitat

It occurs in oceanic waters at depths from 120 m to 1500 m.

Feeding and Diet

According to Last and Stevens (1994), the few stomach contents that have been examined included other elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). The species has been reported to feed in caves and crevices on the continental slope.

Mating and reproduction

During mating, one clasper is inserted into the body of the female Frill Shark to facilitate sperm transfer.

Classification

Species:
anguineus
Genus:
Chlamydoselachus
Family:
Chlamydoselachidae
Order:
Hexanchiformes
Class:
Chondrichthyes
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  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. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513, Pl. 1-84.
  3. Stevens, J. & P.R. Last in Paxton, J.R. & W.N. Eschmeyer (Eds). 1994. Encyclopedia of Fishes. Sydney: New South Wales University Press. Pp. 240.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags Fishes, ichthyology, Frill Shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus, Chlamydoselachidae,