|
Slender Sawtail Catshark
The slender sawtail catshark (''Galeus gracilis'') is a little-known species of catshark, part of the family Scyliorhinidae, endemic to northern Australia. It is found over the continental slope in on water. Growing to long, this shark has a slim gray body with four dark saddle markings below the dorsal fins and on the caudal fin, as well as a prominent crest of enlarged dermal denticles along the dorsal edge of the caudal fin. The slender sawtail catshark is not valued by fisheries but is taken as bycatch. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presently lacks enough information to assess its conservation status. Taxonomy and phylogeny Leonard Compagno and John Stevens described the slender sawtail catshark in a 1993 issue of the scientific journal ''Records of the Australian Museum''. They gave it the specific epithet ''gracilis'', meaning "slender" in Latin; previously, the species had been provisionally termed ''Galeus'' sp. A. The type specimen is a lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno
Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno is an international authority on shark taxonomy and the author of many scientific papers and books on the subject, best known of which is his 1984 catalogue of shark species produced for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Compagno was mentioned in the credits of the 1975 film ''Jaws'' along with the National Geographic Society. Career *Ph.D, Stanford University, 1979 *Adjunct professor, San Francisco State University, 1979 to 1985 *Curator of Fishes in the Division of Life Sciences and Head of the Shark Research Centre (SRC), Iziko Museums, Cape Town *Director, Shark Research Institute(SRI) Selected bibliography *Compagno, L.J.V., 1979. ''Carcharhinoid sharks: morphology, systematics and phylogeny''. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Stanford University, 932 p. Available from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan. *Leonard Compagno, 1984a. FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian region and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Western Rome, Latin remained the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars (including its own descendants, the Romance languages) supplanted it in common academic and political usage, and it eventually became a dead language in the modern linguistic definition. Latin is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), six or seven noun cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and vocative), five declensions, four verb conjuga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nictitating Membrane
The nictitating membrane (from Latin '' nictare'', to blink) is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye from the medial canthus to protect and moisten it while maintaining vision. All Anura(tailless amphibians), and some reptiles, birds, and sharks have full nictitating membranes; in many mammals, a small, vestigial portion of the nictitating membrane remains in the corner of the eye. Some mammals, such as cats, camels, polar bears, seals and aardvarks, have full nictitating membranes. Often called a third eyelid or haw, it may be referred to in scientific terminology as the ''plica semilunaris'', ''membrana nictitans'', or ''palpebra tertia''. Description The nictitating membrane is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye for protection and to moisten it while maintaining vision. The term comes from the Latin word '' nictare'', meaning "to blink". It is o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mouse Catshark
The mouse catshark (''Galeus murinus'') is a species of catshark and part of the family Scyliorhinidae. It is common in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Western Sahara. There is much taxonomic confusion regarding this species in Icelandic waters, where it may be confounded with another species of ''Galeus'' or ''Apristurus''. Probably not exceeding long, the mouse catshark has a uniformly brown body and is characterized by large, rounded pelvic fins and crests of enlarged dermal denticles along both the dorsal and ventral caudal fin margins. In addition, in adult males the inner margins of the pelvic fins are merged into an "apron". Demersal in nature, the mouse catshark inhabits continental slopes at a depth of . It preys mainly on benthic crustaceans, bony fishes, and cephalopods. Reproduction is oviparous, with females producing "furry" egg capsules. Although it is caught incidentally by commercial trawl fisheries, this species does not appear to be threatened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackmouth Catshark
The blackmouth catshark (''Galeus melastomus'') is a species of catshark, and part of the family Scyliorhinidae, common in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Senegal, including the Mediterranean Sea. It is typically found over the continental slope at depths of , on or near muddy bottoms. The youngest sharks generally inhabit shallower water than the older juveniles and adults. This slim-bodied species is characterized by the black interior of its mouth, a marbled pattern of pale-edged brownish saddles or blotches along its back and tail, and a prominent saw-toothed crest of enlarged dermal denticles along the upper edge of its caudal fin. It reaches lengths of , with sharks in the Atlantic growing larger than those in the Mediterranean. Slow-swimming but active, the blackmouth catshark is a generalist that preys on a wide variety of crustaceans, cephalopods, and fishes. Its visual and electroreceptive systems are adept at tracking moving, bioluminescent prey. This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blacktip Sawtail Catshark
The blacktip sawtail catshark (''Galeus sauteri'') is a species of catshark, and part of the family Scyliorhinidae, found off the coasts of Taiwan and the Philippines. It is demersal in nature and occurs deeper than . Growing up to long, this slim-bodied species is characterized by its plain brownish dorsal coloration with dark tips on the dorsal and caudal fins, and a prominent crest of enlarged dermal denticles on the upper edge of the caudal fin. It is oviparous, with females producing encapsulated eggs two at a time year-round. The blacktip sawtail catshark is caught incidentally in bottom trawls and used for fishmeal in Taiwan. Taxonomy and phylogeny In 1906, the Carnegie Museum purchased an extensive collection of fishes assembled from the markets of Takao ( Kaohsiung), Taiwan by Hans Sauter. American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Robert Earl Richardson described several new species from the collection in a 1909 issue of ''Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear DNA
Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. It adheres to Mendelian inheritance, with information coming from two parents, one male and one female—rather than matrilineally (through the mother) as in mitochondrial DNA. Structure Nuclear DNA is a nucleic acid, a polymeric biomolecule or biopolymer, found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. Its structure is a double helix, with two strands wound around each other, a structure first described by Francis Crick and James D. Watson (1953) using data collected by Rosalind Franklin. Each strand is a long polymer chain of repeating nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a five-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and an organic base. Nucleotides are distinguished by their bases: purines, large bases that include adenine and guanine; and pyr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is only a small portion of the DNA in a eukaryotic cell; most of the DNA can be found in the cell nucleus and, in plants and algae, also in plastids such as chloroplasts. Human mitochondrial DNA was the first significant part of the human genome to be sequenced. This sequencing revealed that the human mtDNA includes 16,569 base pairs and encodes 13 proteins. Since animal mtDNA evolves faster than nuclear genetic markers, it represents a mainstay of phylogenetics and evolutionary biology. It also permits an examination of the relatedness of populations, and so has become important in anthropology and biogeography. Origin Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are thought to be of separate evolutionary origin, with the mtDNA being derived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups of organisms. These relationships are determined by Computational phylogenetics, phylogenetic inference methods that focus on observed heritable traits, such as DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, or morphology. The result of such an analysis is a phylogenetic tree—a diagram containing a hypothesis of relationships that reflects the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. The tips of a phylogenetic tree can be living taxa or fossils, and represent the "end" or the present time in an evolutionary lineage. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about the ancestral line, and does ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadfin Sawtail Catshark
The broadfin sawtail catshark (''Galeus nipponensis'') is a common species of catshark, part of the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found on or near the bottom at depths of , from southeastern Japan to the East China Sea. A slender species growing to long, this shark is characterized by a fairly long, pointed snout, a series of indistinct, dark saddles along its back and tail, and a prominent crest of enlarged dermal denticles along the dorsal edge of its caudal fin. In addition, adult males have very long claspers that reach past the anal fin. The broadfin sawtail catshark is an opportunistic predator of bony fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans, with immature and mature sharks being primarily piscivorous. It is oviparous and reproduces year-round. Taxonomy The broadfin sawtail catshark has long been lumped together with the closely similar but smaller gecko catshark (''G. eastmani''), under whose name authors such as Toshiji Kamohara had described it since 1950. This shark was f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longnose Sawtail Catshark
The longnose sawtail catshark (''Galeus longirostris'') is a little-known species of catshark, part of the family Scyliorhinidae, found off the northwestern Pacific islands of Amami Ōshima, Ogasawara, and Izu at depths of . Reaching a length of , it is characterized by a long flattened snout, a long space between the pelvic and anal fins, and a crest of enlarged dermal denticles along the dorsal caudal fin edge. Adults are plain dark gray above, while juveniles have a few faint dark saddles on the back and tail. Taxonomy The first known specimen of the longnose sawtail catshark was hooked on a bottom longline off the Ogasawara Islands in 1983. The new species was described by Hiroyuki Tachikawa and Toru Taniuchi in a 1987 issue of the ''Japanese Journal of Ichthyology'', and given the specific epithet ''longirostris'' from the Latin ''longus'' ("long"), and ''rostrum'' ("snout"). A long female caught off Amami Ōshima was designated as the type specimen. Within the genus, this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
