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Japanese Spurdog
Squalus japonicus
The Japanese spurdog (Squalus japonicus) is a dogfish, a member of the family Squalidae. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean, near southeastern Japan and in the East China Sea, including the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and the Arafura Sea. It occurs in temperate and tropical waters along the continental shelf and slopes and primarily feeds on teleost fish and squid. It is caught as bycatch in commercial fishing, which has caused populations to decline.
From the article Japanese spurdog on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Males measure 50 to 70 cm (19.7 to 27.6 in) long in adulthood, while females measure 56 to 80 cm (22 to 31.5 in) long. Females are also higher in weight than males. They have 25 to 27 teeth on their upper jaw and 20 to 24 teeth on their lower jaw.
Range & habitat
The Japanese spurdog is found in the Pacific Ocean, in southeast Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Additionally, there is one record of S. japonicus being caught in a trawl net in the Arafura Sea, between Australia and Western New Guinea. It is a demersal species, found on the continental shelf and upper slope at depths of 52 to 400 m (170.6 to 1312 ft).
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
What it does
They are viviparous, giving birth to between 2 and 8 pups in each litter. The pups are 19 to 30 cm (7.5 to 11.8 in) long at birth. Gestation is 11 to 12 months and they reproduce annually. A study in the East China Sea found an equal sex ratio of both embryos and adults.
Wikipedia: “Reproduction”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Squalus japonicus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 113037.