Halaelurus maculosus White, Last & Stevens, 2007
Indonesian Speckled Catshark

Family:  Pentanchidae (Deepwater catsharks)
Max. size:  45.7 cm TL (male/unsexed); 52.8 cm TL (female)
Environment:  demersal; marine
Distribution:  Pacific Ocean: known from the southern coast of Java, and off the islands of Bali and Lombok in eastern Indonesia, and has also been recorded from several landing sites in the Philippines (Ref. 59315).
Diagnosis:  Small adult size; Body tapering, anterior trunk wide and somewhat depressed; tail long and slender, almost circular in cross-section at second dorsal-fin insertion; no lateral keels; no postnatal ridge between anal fin base and lower caudal-fin origin; no longitudinal ridges on dorsal surface, no obvious lateral ridges. Head short, wide and somewhat depressed, more so between eyes and ventrally; narrowly pointed, not upturned or knob-like in lateral view (slightly upturned in some paratypes); in dorsoventral view anterior to gill openings broadly parabolic; subocular ridge evident, variably angular. Eyes small, spindle-shaped; dorsolateral on head, with lower edges well medial to lateral head margin in dorsal view; subocular ridges weak, not well defined, subequal in length to eye, almost a spiracle length from eye margin; no supraorbital crest (Ref. 59315).
Biology:  Reported to be caught occasionally by demersal fisheries, but no depth distribution information is available (Ref. 59315).
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT); Date assessed: 06 May 2020 (A2d) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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