Chain catshark

Chain catshark
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Scyliorhinidae
Genus:	Scyliorhinus
Species:	S. retifer
Binomial name
Scyliorhinus retifer (Garman, 1881)

Template:Sharksportal The chain catshark, Scyliorhinus retifer, also called the chain dogfish, is a spotted catshark whose spots fluoresce under blue light.

Mikhail Matz, a professor of marine biology at the University of Florida, was the first to document the shark's previously-unknown fluorescent properties. A specimen that proved to be a chain catshark was filmed by Matz off the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005, a few days before Hurricane Katrina blew through.

Trivia

The fictional jaguar shark from the 2004 Bill Murray film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is similar in appearance, being capable of bioluminescence, though the chain catshark was discovered after the film was released.

Chain catsharks in an aquarium.

References

• Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• "Scyliorhinus retifer". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 30 January. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Scyliorhinus retifer". FishBase. Nov 2005 version.

External links

• Picture of the chain catshark