Leafscale gulper shark

How it lives

It lives near the seabed on continental slopes. Wikipedia gives 230 to 2,360 m, usually below 1,000 m, and FishBase gives 145 to 2,400 m. Fishes of Australia notes records down to 3,366 m. Age counts from otolith rings suggest a lifespan of about 70 years. Females mature at about 125 cm and males at about 100 cm. Young develop inside the mother, fed by yolk, and are born at 35 to 43 cm. Litters are about 5 to 8 young in FishBase and Fishes of Australia, while Wikipedia says a maximum of five.

Where it goes

The sources I opened do not describe regular migrations. It lives close to the seabed on continental slopes, mostly deeper than 1,000 m, so it is almost never met by people in the water.

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

Listed as Endangered by IUCN (FishBase shows this category in an entry dated February 2024). Fishes of Australia reports that the global population has fallen by 50 to 79 percent over the last three generations, which it puts at 158 to 160 years. FishBase gives a minimum population doubling time of 4.5 to 14 years. It occurs in patches across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. It has been fished for liver oil, which Fishes of Australia calls among the most valuable shark liver oils, and for meat and fins.