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Myxini (hagfishes) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Dichichthyidae ()
Etymology: Dichichthys: Name from the combination of the Greek 'dicho'- meaning 'to branch in two' and 'ichthys' for 'fish', with this genus being intermediate between the Galeus-Parmaturus complex and Apristurus; melanobranchus: melanos (Gr.), black; branchos (Gr.), gill, referring to blackish color on gill septa (See ETYFish).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 540 - 810 m (Ref. 244). Deep-water; 21°N - 18°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northwest Pacific: known from only 3 specimens taken in the South China Sea. Collected less than a degree north of the northwestern boundary of the Western Central Pacific (Ref. 11146).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 85.0 cm TL (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Light brown with distal parts and anterior margins of fins, snout, nostrils, and gills blackish brown in young, possibly uniform blackish brown in adults (Ref. 11146).

A poorly known deep-water bottom-dwelling catshark found on mud bottoms of the upper continental slopes (Ref. 11146). Oviparous (Ref. 50449).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous, paired eggs are laid. Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449).

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Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 27 August 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5010 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.0 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (54 of 100).

Dichichthys melanobranchus Chan, 1966