| Somniosidae (Sleeper sharks) |
| 427 cm TL (male/unsexed); 550 cm TL (female); max.weight: 1,100 kg; max. reported age: 392 years |
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benthopelagic; marine; depth range 0 - 2992 m, oceanodromous |
| North Atlantic from the USA and Canada to Greenland in the west and from Portugal to the Barents Sea and Eastern Siberian Sea.
Genetic analyses caution that the geographic range of this species may be much narrower, ranging from Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, and Norway, with occasional records from Cuba, France and Spain (Canary Is.) (Yano et al. 2007, MacNeil et al. 2012, Walter et al. 2017, Simpson et al. 2018).
Records from the western Atlantic, including records from the northern Gulf of Mexico and Canadian side off the Davis Strait exhibit evidence of introgressive hybridisation with Pacific Sleeper Shark (Somniosus pacificus) which has been recorded as far north as the Azores Islands (Portugal) (Walter et al. 2017). |
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Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 0-0; Vertebrae: 41-44. A gigantic, heavily-bodied dogfish shark with a moderately long, rounded snout and small, low dorsal fins; lower caudal lobe long; upper jaw with small single-cusped teeth and lower jaw with moderate-sized, bent-cusped, slicing teeth (Ref. 5578). Medium grey or brown in color, sometimes with transverse dark bands or small light spots (Ref. 5578). |
| Found on continental and insular shelves and upper slopes down to at least 1,200 m (Ref. 247) and to as deep as 2,200 m (Ref. 55584). Epibenthic-pelagic (Ref. 58426). In the Arctic and boreal Atlantic, it occurs inshore in the intertidal and at the surface in shallow bays and river mouths during colder months, retreating to depths of 180-550 m when the temperature rises (Ref. 247). Reported to be found in temperatures from -1.8° to 17.2°C but commonly below 5°C at with salinity range of 29.4-35.5. It is capable of undertaking long migrations (Ref. 119696). Feeds on pelagic and bottom fishes (herring, Atlantic salmon, Arctic char, capelin, redfish, sculpins, lumpfish, cod, haddock, Atlantic halibut, Greenland halibut and skates (Ref.
5951)), sharks and skates (Ref. 5578), seals and small cetaceans, sea birds, squids, crabs, amphipods, marine snails, brittle stars, sea urchins, and jellyfish (Ref. 247, 58240). Radiocarbon dating of eye lens nuclei from 28 caught female Greenland sharks (81-502 cm TL) revealed a life span of at least 272 years, the oldest being nearly 400 years; age of sexual maturity is about 150 years. This large species is slow-growing (Ref. 110949).
Petromyzon marinus was reported to have been attached to S. microcephalus (Ref. 58185). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205). Utilized fresh and dried for human and sled-dog food (flesh is said to be toxic when fresh); Inuit also used the skin to make boots, and the
sharp lower dental bands as knives for cutting hair (Ref. 247). A very sluggish shark (Ref. 28609). Reports in literature of lengths exceeding 640 cm TL (e.g. up to 730 cm TL in Ref. 247) remain unverified. Common length 244-427 cm TL (Ref. 119696). |
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Vulnerable (VU); Date assessed: 20 June 2019 (A2bd) Ref. (130435)
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| poisonous to eat |
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