The New Zealand catshark, ''Bythaelurus dawsoni'', is a
catshark of the
family Scyliorhinidae in the order
Carcharhiniformes.
This species is
endemic to in the deep waters around
New Zealand.
Its length is up to .
The New Zealand catshark is a small, little-known deep water bottom shark. It is dark brown around the top with a few widely spaced pale spots, and white below. It feeds on bottom-living
crustaceans. It is also completely harmless to humans.
Conservation status
The New Zealand
Department of Conservation
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...
has classified the New Zealand catshark as "Not Threatened" but with the qualifier "Data Poor" under the
New Zealand Threat Classification System
The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand.
The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...
.
It is regarded as being at risk from bottom trawling.
References
Endemic marine fish of New Zealand
Taxa named by Stewart Springer
Fish described in 1971
Bythaelurus
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