The blacktailed spurdog (Squalus melanurus) is a dogfish, a member of the family Squalidae, found around New Caledonia in the central Pacific Ocean, at depths from 320 to 320 m. Its length is up to 75 cm.
Blacktailed spurdog | |
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from New Caledonia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Subdivision: | Selachimorpha |
Order: | Squaliformes |
Family: | Squalidae |
Genus: | Squalus |
Species: | S. melanurus
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Binomial name | |
Squalus melanurus Fourmanoir & Rivaton, 1979
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Range of the blacktailed spurdog (in blue) |
Its reproduction is ovoviviparous.
The blacktailed spurdog has been seldom studied for parasites. The 1 mm-long monogenean Triloculotrema chisholmae has been described in 2009 from three specimens found in the nasal tissue of a single shark caught off New Caledonia.[2]
T. chisholmae was the second species described in the genus Triloculotrema Kearn, 1993 (family Monocotylidae).[3]
Species of Triloculotrema appear to be limited to deep-sea sharks, either triakids or squalids (possibly etmopterids).[2]
The blacktailed spurdog is also the host of external parasites such as the aegid isopod Aega angustata on the skin.[4] Internal parasites include several trypanorhynch cestodes in the spiral intestine, such as Vittirhynchus squali and Gilquinia sp.[5]