Pygmy ribbontail catshark
| Pygmy ribbontail catshark | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
| Family: | Proscylliidae |
| Genus: | Eridacnis |
| Species: | E. radcliffei |
| Binomial name | |
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Eridacnis radcliffei H. M. Smith, 1913 |
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| Range of the pygmy ribbontail catshark | |
| Synonyms | |
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Proscyllium alcocki Misra, 1950 |
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Proscyllium alcocki Misra, 1950
The pygmy ribbontail catshark (Eridacnis radcliffei) is a species of finback catshark, family Proscylliidae, distributed patchily in the western Indo-Pacific from Tanzania to the Philippines. It occurs around the edges of continental and insular shelves at a depth of 71–766 m (233–2,513 ft), typically on or near mud bottoms. One of the smallest living shark species, the pygmy ribbontail catshark grows to a maximum known length of 24 cm (9.4 in). It has a slender body with a low, ribbon-like tail fin, and is dark brown in color with blackish dorsal fin markings and tail bands. This shark feeds mainly on bony fishes, followed by crustaceans and then squid. It is aplacental viviparous with females bearing litters of 1–2 relatively large pups. It is of minimal significance to fisheries, being caught as bycatch in some areas.
The first known specimens of the pygmy ribbontail catshark were collected during the 1907–1910 Philippine Expedition of the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer Albatross. Hugh McCormick Smith, Deputy Fish Commissioner and director of the expedition, published a description of this shark in a 1913 issue of the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, naming it for the expedition's General Assistant and Naturalist Lewis Radcliffe, and creating for it the new genus Eridacnis. The type specimen is a 23 cm (9.1 in) long adult female caught off Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines.
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