The dusky snout catshark (''Bythaelurus naylori'') is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae. This species is found from the

Southwest Indian Ridge The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floors of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean. A divergent tectonic plate boundary separating the Somali Plate to the north from the Antarctic Plate t ...

, southwestern Indian Ocean. The

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s were collected from 89–1,443 m depth in both bottom trawls and midwater trawls. The shallowest catch record of the new species, possibly at 89 m, came from a midwater trawl. This species can be distinguished from its two closest congeners, '' B. giddingsi'' and '' B. lutarius'', by a combination of prominent comb-like

dermal denticle A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as we ...

s along the upper caudal-fin margin, absence of oral papillae, uniform body coloration, and noticeable dark dusky snout; ''Bythaelurus giddingsi'' has oral papillae present and a variegated color pattern, while ''B. lutarius'' lacks a caudal crest of enlarged denticles and matures at a much smaller size than the new species.

References

dusky snout catshark Fish of the Indian Ocean dusky snout catshark {{Shark-stub