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Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Kitefin shark
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Dalatias licha   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Dalatias licha (Kitefin shark)
Dalatias licha
Male picture by Cambraia Duarte, P.M.N. (c)ImagDOP

United Kingdom country information

Common names: Darkie charlie, Kitefin shark, Kitefin shark
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: scarce (very unlikely) | Ref: Swaby, S.E. and G.W. Potts, 1990
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: In Celtic Seas (ca. 420 m) (Ref. 82399).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Compagno, L.J.V., 1984
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Squale liche, Carocho, Далатия (=чёрная пряморотая акула), ... more

Classification / Names Κοινά ονόματα | Συνώνυμα | Catalog of Fishes(Γένος, Είδη) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Ελασμοβράγχιοι (καρχαρίες και σαλάχια) (sharks and rays) > Squaliformes (Sleeper and dogfish sharks) > Dalatiidae (Sleeper sharks)
Etymology: Dalatias: Etymology not explained nor evident. A few online sources suggest Dalatias is derived from dalos (Gr.), torch or firebrand, but nothing in Rafinesque’s description supports this interpretation. Interestingly, D. licha is bioluminescent, a fact that was discovered and resported only recently and was certainly unknown to Rafinesque and other early naturalists. See: Mallefet J., D. W. Stevens, and L. Duchatelet. 2021. Bioluminescence of the largest luminous vertebrate, the kitefin shark, Dalatias licha: first insights and comparative aspects. Frontiers in Marine Science 8 (article 633582): 1-13. (See ETYFish);  licha: Latinization of “La Liche” as reported by Broussonet (1780), an old French word for this shark, possibly from from the Occitan lecha or lec, meaning “glutton”. (See ETYFish).
  More on author: Bonnaterre.

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

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