Somniosus microcephalus, Greenland shark : fisheries, gamefish

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Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Greenland shark
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Somniosus microcephalus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Squaliformes (Sleeper and dogfish sharks) > Somniosidae (Sleeper sharks)
Etymology: Somniosus: Latin for sleepy, reflecting Lesueur’s surmise that these sharks are slow or sluggish because of their relatively small fins (hence the name sleeper sharks). (See ETYFish);  microcephalus: micro-, from mikros (Gr.), small; cephalus, from kephale (Gr.), head, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its short, rounded snout compared with other sharks then included in the catch-all genus Squalus. (See ETYFish).
More on authors: Bloch & Schneider.

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

Marine; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 119696); depth range 0 - 2992 m (Ref. 119696), usually 200 - 600 m (Ref. 35388). Boreal; -2°C - 17°C (Ref. 119696); 83°N - 27°N, 95°W - 61°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Arctic and North and Central Atlantic: Canadian Arctic at Resolute Bay to Baffin Bay, southward in western Atlantic to Cape Cod and Georgia USA, eastward to Greenland, Iceland, Arctic Ocean off Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, and the Barents and White Seas southward in the eastern Atlantic to the Kattegat and west of Ireland and Canary Islands; rare records known farther south as well as in the Arctic..

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 335.5, range 244 - 427 cm
Max length : 427 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 247); 550.0 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 0.00 g; max. reported age: 392 years (Ref. 110949)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 41 - 44. A gigantic, heavily-bodied dogfish shark with a moderately long, rounded snout and small, low dorsal fins; lower caudal lobe long; upper jaw with small single-cusped teeth and lower jaw with moderate-sized, bent-cusped, slicing teeth (Ref. 5578). Medium grey or brown in color, sometimes with transverse dark bands or small light spots (Ref. 5578).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found on continental and insular shelves and upper slopes down to at least 1,200 m (Ref. 247) and to as deep as 2,200 m (Ref. 55584). Epibenthic-pelagic (Ref. 58426). In the Arctic and boreal Atlantic, it occurs inshore in the intertidal and at the surface in shallow bays and river mouths during colder months, retreating to depths of 180-550 m when the temperature rises (Ref. 247). Reported to be found in temperatures from -1.8° to 17.2°C but commonly below 5°C at with salinity range of 29.4-35.5. It is capable of undertaking long migrations (Ref. 119696). Feeds on pelagic and bottom fishes (herring, Atlantic salmon, Arctic char, capelin, redfish, sculpins, lumpfish, cod, haddock, Atlantic halibut, Greenland halibut and skates (Ref. 5951)), sharks and skates (Ref. 5578), seals and small cetaceans, sea birds, squids, crabs, amphipods, marine snails, brittle stars, sea urchins, and jellyfish (Ref. 247, 58240). Radiocarbon dating of eye lens nuclei from 28 caught female Greenland sharks (81-502 cm TL) revealed a life span of at least 272 years, the oldest being nearly 400 years; age of sexual maturity is about 150 years. This large species is slow-growing (Ref. 110949). Petromyzon marinus was reported to have been attached to S. microcephalus (Ref. 58185). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205). Utilized fresh and dried for human and sled-dog food (flesh is said to be toxic when fresh); Inuit also used the skin to make boots, and the sharp lower dental bands as knives for cutting hair (Ref. 247). A very sluggish shark (Ref. 28609). Reports in literature of lengths exceeding 640 cm TL (e.g. up to 730 cm TL in Ref. 247) remain unverified. Common length 244-427 cm TL (Ref. 119696).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Ovoviviparous (Ref. 247). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Yano, K., J.D. Stevens and L.J.V. Compagno, 2004. A review of the systematics of the sleeper shark genus Somniosus with redescriptions of Somniosus (Somniosus) antarcticus and Somniosus (Rhinoscymnus) longus (Squaliformes: Somniosidae). Ichthyol. Res. 51:360-373. (Ref. 50224)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 20 June 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Poisonous to eat (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 0.6 - 9.3, mean 3.6 °C (based on 1058 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5313   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00289 - 0.00523), b=3.16 (3.08 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 143.7 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec=10; K=0.0075; assuming tm>10; tmax=392).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (50 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 1.76 [0.30, 10.78] mg/100g; Iron = 0.163 [0.036, 0.621] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [16, 21] %; Omega3 = 0.24 [0.07, 0.83] g/100g; Selenium = 32.3 [7.0, 125.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 10 [1, 76] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.321 [0.136, 0.690] mg/100g (wet weight);