Slender lanternshark
Etmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The smooth lanternshark or slender lanternshark (Etmopterus pusillus) is a species of dogfish shark in the family Etmopteridae, found widely in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It inhabits benthic environments at a depth of 274–1,000 m (899–3,281 ft), and pelagic environments at a depth of 0–708 m (0–2,323 ft). The smooth lanternshark forms a species group with the larger blurred lanternshark (E. bigelowi), both of which are distinguished from other members of their family by small, irregularly arranged dermal denticles with a truncated shape. This species has a slender, dark brown body with an indistinct black band on the sides over the pelvic fins, and reaches 50 cm (20 in) in length. This slow-growing, ovoviviparous shark feeds on smaller squid, fishes, and fish eggs. Smooth lanternsharks are often caught as bycatch in eastern Atlantic and Japanese commercial fisheries. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has evaluated this species as of Least Concern because of its wide distribution and limited threats.
Wikipedia contributors, Smooth lanternshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:47:23.052849+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Etmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)
- Name authority
- (Lowe, 1839)
- Common name
- Slender lanternshark
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Squaliformes
- Family
- Etmopteridae
- Genus
- Etmopterus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderSqualomorphi
- orderSqualiformes Compagno, 1973
- familyEtmopteridae Fowler, 1934
- genusEtmopterus Rafinesque, 1810
- speciesEtmopterus pusillus (Lowe, 1839)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Etmopterus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Etmopterus alphus Ebert, Straube, Leslie & Weigmann, 2016 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blurred lantern sharkEtmopterus bigelowi Shirai & Tachikawa, 1993 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus burgessi Schaaf-Da Silva & Ebert, 2006 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus caudistigmus Last, Burgess & Séret, 2002 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus evansi Last, Burgess & Séret, 2002 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| southern lanternsharkEtmopterus granulosus (Günther, 1880) | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus joungi Knuckey, Ebert & Burgess, 2011 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Laila’s lanternsharkEtmopterus lailae Ebert, Papastamatiou, Kajiura & Wetherbee, 2017 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Etmopterus pseudosqualiolus Last, Burgess & Séret, 2002 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus samadiae White, Ebert, Mana & Corrigan, 2017 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus schultzi Bigelow, Schroeder & Springer, 1953 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etmopterus sculptus Ebert, Compagno & De Vries, 2011 | EtmopteridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Acanthidium pusillum Lowe, 1839 Lowe, 1839 | synonym |
| Centrina nigra Lowe, 1834 Lowe, 1834 | synonym |
| Etmopterus pusilus (Lowe, 1839) (Lowe, 1839) | synonym |
| Etmopterus frontimaculatus Pietschmann, 1907 Pietschmann, 1907 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105912 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3BM82. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.