The magnificent catshark or clown catshark (''Proscyllium magnificum'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of finback catshark, belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Proscylliidae The finback catsharks are a small family, the Proscylliidae, of ground sharks. They can be found in warm seas worldwide and are often the most numerous and common shark in tropical regions. They are generally less than 1 m in length, and are slow ...

, known only from five specimens collected in the northern Andaman Sea near the edge of the

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

continental shelf. Its common names refer to its distinctive, elaborate color pattern of small and large dark spots, which include "clown faces" beneath each

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

. Reaching in length, this species has a very slender body with a short, flattened head and a large lobe of skin in front of each

nostril A nostril (or naris , plural ''nares'' ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbi ...

. The first dorsal fin is placed behind the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s but ahead of the pelvic fins.

Taxonomy

The first specimens of the magnificent catshark were caught during a 1989 joint Thai- Burmese survey of the Myanmar continental shelf, and described by Peter Last and Vararin Vongpanich in a 2004 issue of the ''Phuket Marine Biological Center Research Bulletin''. Its specific epithet is derived from the

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 ...

''magnificus'' ("noble" or "splendid"), and refers to its "strikingly beautiful" coloration. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

is a female long, collected by Weera Pokapunt aboard the FRTV ''Chulabhorn''.

Distribution and habitat

The magnificent catshark is only known to occur in the northern Andaman Sea, off the coast of

. It inhabits water deep near the outer edge of the continental shelf.

Description

The largest magnificent catshark on record was long. Its body is firm and very thin. The head is rather flattened and tapers to a short, slightly bell-shaped snout. The nostrils are sizable and divided by well-developed lobes of skin on the anterior margins; the incurrent openings are tubular in appearance. The large, horizontally oval eyes are placed moderately high on the head and bear rudimentary nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids); there are prominent ridges underneath. The mouth forms a long, wide arch with very short furrows at the corners. The teeth are tiny with typically three cusps in males and five cusps in females; the central cusp is the longest. The upper teeth are exposed when the mouth is closed. There are over 80 tooth rows in the upper jaw. There are five pairs of

gill slit Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates such as lampreys. In con ...

s; papillae (nipple-like structures) are present on the

gill arch Branchial arches, or gill arches, are a series of bony "loops" present in fish, which support the gills. As gills are the primitive condition of vertebrates, all vertebrate embryos develop pharyngeal arches, though the eventual fate of these arc ...

es. The two

s are triangular with rounded apexes and gently concave trailing margins. The first dorsal fin is slightly larger than the second and originates behind the

bases, while the second originates roughly above the rear of the anal fin base. The pectoral and pelvic fins have rounded tips, with the former much larger and broader than the latter. The pelvic fins of males have rather elongated, blunt-tipped

clasper In biology, a clasper is a male anatomical structure found in some groups of animals, used in mating. Male cartilaginous fish have claspers formed from the posterior portion of their pelvic fin which serve to channel semen into the female's c ...

s. The low, triangular anal fin is much smaller than either dorsal fin. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

is short, with a barely developed lower lobe and a distinct, enlarged tip on the upper lobe. The skin is covered by overlapping dermal denticles; the denticle crowns are narrow and placed on narrow stalks, with three teeth on their posterior margins. The coloration is distinctive, consisting of a dense variegated pattern of dark markings ranging from tiny to larger than the eye, on a brownish background. In particular, there are three spots above a fourth curved spot, forming a "clown face", beneath each dorsal fin. The spots extend onto the dorsal and anal fins, and the upper surfaces of the pectoral and pelvic fins. The underside varies from plain white to grayish with faint blotches.

Biology and ecology

Virtually nothing is known of the natural history of the magnificent catshark. Males attain

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definit ...

at around long.

Human interactions

The conservation status of the magnificent catshark has not been evaluated by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN). Only five specimens are presently known to science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:catshark, magnificent magnificent catshark Fish of Myanmar magnificent catshark