Kitefin shark

The Kitefin shark, Seal shark, or Black shark, Dalatias licha, is a dogfish, the only species in the genus Dalatias, found in the Atlantic, western Mediterranean, western Indian Ocean, and western Pacific including Japan, Australia, Hawaii, and New Zealand, at depths of 164.04 to 5905.51 ft (50 to 1,800 meters). Its length is from 3.28 to 5.91 ft (1 to 1.8 meters).

The Kitefin shark has a blunt snout and both dorsal fins are approximately equal in size. The trailing edges of all fins are translucent. The teeth are different in each jaw – small slender-cusped upper teeth and very large lower teeth with erect triangular serrated cusps and distal blades. The top caudal lobe is much longer than the lower.

Its color is dark grey to almost black. Kitefin sharks feed on deepwater bony fish, skates, other sharks, cephalopods, and crustaceans, mainly on the continental shelf. They are found singly or in small schools.

Kitefin sharks are ovoviviparous, with 10 to 20 young being born at a time.