|Scientific Name:||Apristurus parvipinnis|
|Species Authority:||Springer & Heemstra, 1979|
|Taxonomic Notes:||The genus Apristurus contains at least 32 described species and a relatively large number of potentially undescribed ones. Morphological conservatism and, until recently, a lack of objectively defined characters makes this one of the most taxonomically confused shark genera (Compagno 1984, Nakaya and Sato 1999).
Nakaya and Sato (1999) defined three species groups within Apristurus: the longicephalus-group (two species), brunneus-group (20 species) and spongiceps-group (10 species). A. parvipinnis belongs to the brunneus-group, characterized by: a short, wide snout (prenarial length < 6% TL); 13 to 22 valves in the spiral intestine; upper labial furrows obviously longer than the lower furrows; a discontinuous supraorbital sensory canal.
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Data Deficient ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Huveneers, C. & Duffy, C.|
|Reviewer(s):||Kyne, P.M., Cavanagh, R.D. & Fowler, S.L. (Shark Red List Authority)|
An apparently common deepwater catshark on the upper continental slope in the Western Central Atlantic at depths of 636 to 1,115 m. Apristurus laurussonii together with A. parvipinnis are reported to be the commonest Apristurus species in the Gulf of Mexico. Maximum recorded size around 52 cm total length (TL). Although A. parvipinnis is reported to be a relatively common bycatch in deepwater trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, insufficient catch and biological information is available to assess this species beyond Data Deficient.
|Range Description:||The species occurs in the Western Central Atlantic from Gulf of Mexico to French Guiana.|
Native:Colombia; French Guiana; Mexico; Panama; United States (Florida)
|FAO Marine Fishing Areas:|
Atlantic – western central
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Current Population Trend:||Unknown|
|Habitat and Ecology:||A. parvipinnis and A. laurussonii are the commonest Apristurus species in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite this little is known of their biology. A. parvipinnis occurs over the continental slope at depths of 636 to 1,115 m. Reproduction is oviparous with one egg per oviduct laid at a time.
Apristurus species are relatively small, sluggish sharks that live on or near the bottom. Diet includes crustaceans (penaeid shrimps, euphausiids), squids and small fishes. Egg cases are usually thick-walled, and about 5 to 6.8 cm long and 2.5 to 2.9 cm wide. The anterior end of the case has a long weak fibrous thread on each corner. The posterior end usually has two small processes each with a long coiled tendril. As in shallow water scyliorhinids the coiled tendrils are probably used to attach the egg cases to hard substrates and/or biogenic structures as they are laid.
|Major Threat(s):||Reported to be a relatively common bycatch in deepwater trawl fisheries.|
|Conservation Actions:||No conservation measures are currently in place for this species.|
Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Sharks of the World: an annotated and illustrated catalogue of the shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 4(2). FAO, Rome.
Compagno, L.J.V. In prep. b. Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the shark species known to date. Volume 3. (Carcharhiniformes). FAO Species Catalogue for Fisheries Purposes No. 1, Vol.3. FAO, Rome.
IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 23 November 2004).
IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. Specialist Group website. Available at: http://www.iucnssg.org/.
Nakaya, K. and Sato, K. 1999. Species grouping within the genus Apristurus (Elasmobranchii: Scyliorhinidae). In: B. Séret and J.-Y. Sire (eds). Proceedings of the 5th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference (Nouméa, 3-8 November 1997). Paris, Society Francaise d’Ichthyologie et Instutue de Recherches pour le Development: 307–320.
|Citation:||Huveneers, C. & Duffy, C. 2004. Apristurus parvipinnis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T44221A10874401.Downloaded on 01 May 2017.|
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