Sharks

Birdbeak dogfish

Deania calcea

A deep-water shark with a long beak-like snout that lives far below where visitors go, so no trip can promise a sighting.

Near ThreatenedIn 8 Atlas countries

Near Threatened (IUCN, 2019) means it is close to qualifying as threatened, mainly because it breeds slowly and is caught in deep-water fisheries.

Length

Up to about 127 cm (50 in) total length (FishBase); a New Zealand study measured animals from 38 to 110 cm

Weight

Up to about 8.7 kg (19 lb) reported by FishBase

Next to a person

Up to about as long as a tall adult stands, and about as heavy as a large bag of potatoes.

What it eats

Open-water fish, squid, octopus and shrimp. In a study on New Zealand's Chatham Rise, lanternfishes were the most common prey, with larger fish such as grenadiers and hakes and several squids making up much of the weight. About a third of the stomachs checked were empty.

Around people

Deep, rarely met

How it lives

It gives birth to live young that are fed by their yolk, with litters of about 6 to 12 pups born at 29 to 34 cm. FishBase gives a size at maturity of about 98 cm and an estimated generation time of 14.3 years, and rates its resilience as very low. It lives at about 60 to 1,490 m, usually 400 to 1,400 m.

Where it goes

FishBase describes a wide, patchy range: the eastern Atlantic from Iceland and Norway to South Africa, and parts of the Indo-Pacific including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Chile. Detailed movement patterns are not given in the sources read.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Global: Near Threatened (IUCN, assessed 2019). It is a minor target but is taken as bycatch in deep-water fisheries, and its slow life makes it very vulnerable to fishing. New Zealand's Department of Conservation listed it as Not Threatened in 2018 (as reported by Wikipedia). The sources read give no total population number.

Meet it respectfully

Visitors almost never meet this shark, because it lives on the deep slope far below the reach of snorkellers and most divers. If you see one on a fishing boat, leave the handling to the crew. Never chase, touch, feed or bait any wildlife, and follow your guide and local rules.

Fun fact

Tap the bulb to light it up.

Sources for this page

Facts checked 5 October 2026. Photos: Unsplash licence, or Creative Commons as shown on each photo.

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