 Catch records suggest that the spined pygmy shark follows its prey on their diel vertical migrations, spending the day close to a depth of and ascending towards a depth of at night.The ventral photophores of the spined pygmy shark have been theorized to function in counter-illumination, a form of camouflage in which the shark disguises its silhouette from would-be predators by matching the ambient light welling down from above.There is no evidence that this shark swallows its shed teeth like the pygmy and cookiecutter sharks.