Sharks Bycatch Programme
SIODFA vessels can use the Association’s form for collection of occurrence data on deepwater sharks. Identification of deepwater sharks is problematic and compounded by the use of different common names for the same species and the same name for different species. It is recognized that the systematics of this group needs attention from appropriate elasmobranch taxonomists but as yet no source of funds has been found to enable this extremely important work to be undertaken. One particular example is the confusion in naming between the Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus) and the Southern sleeper shark (Somniosus antarcticus). This shark tends to be robust to capture and skippers report that the same shark may be caught several times.
The following table lists the assumed species identity of deepwater sharks (and rays) taken as bycatch in the SIODFA fishery.
Log Book Name | Fishbase | Code | Family | Provisional Species |
Ghost shark |
| OGH | Callorhinchidae | Callorhinchus milii |
South dogfish | Little gulper shark | CUS | Centrophoridae | Centrophorus uyato |
Brier shark | Birdbeak dogfish | BSH | Centrophoridae | Deania calcea |
Long snout dogfish | Longsnout dogfish | LSD | Centrophoridae | Deania quadrispinosum |
| Portuguese dogfish |
| Centroscymnus coelolepis | |
Gold dogfish | Longnose velvet dogfish | GDG | Centroscymnus crepidater | |
Owston’s dogfish | Roughskin dogfish | ODG | Centroscymnus owstoni | |
| Plunket shark |
| Dalatiidae | Centroscymnus plunketi |
Seal shark | Kitefin shark | SSH | Dalatiidae | Dalatias licha |
| Shorttail lanternshark |
| Dalatiidae | Etmopterus brachyurus |
Lantern shark | Blackbelly lanternshark | SLS | Dalatiidae | Etmopterus lucifer |
| Great lanternshark |
| Dalatiidae | Etmopterus princeps |
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| Porbeagle |
| Lamnidae | Lamna nasus |
| Sixgill sawshark |
| Pristiophoridae | Pliotrema warreni |
| Broadnose catshark |
| Scyliorhinidae | Apristurus investigatoris |
| Balloon shark |
| Scyliorhinidae | Cephaloscyllium sufflans |
| African spotted catshark |
| Scyliorhinidae | Holohalaelurus punctatus |
| Izak catshark |
| Scyliorhinidae | Holohalaelurus regani |
Cat shark | McMillan’s cat shark | CAT | Scyliorhinidae | Parmaturus macmillani |
Dogfish | Shortnose spurdog | CCR | Squalidae | Squalus megalops |
Sleeper shark | Sleeper shark |
| Somniosidae | Somniosus antarcticus |
Shovel shark | guitarfish / wedgefish |
| Rhinobatidae | Rhinobatos holcorhynchus |
Shovel shark | guitarfish / wedgefish | SHV | Rhinobatidae | Rhynchobatus australiae |
| Triangular legskate |
| Rajidae | Cruriraja triangularis |
| Yellow spotted skate |
| Rajidae | Leucoraja wallacei |
SIODFA Deepwater shark bycatch data collection programme
Examples of deepwater sharks recorded by the SIODFA deepwater shark bycatch recording programme:
Click here to view our Shark/Ray Bycatch Record template.
