Etmopterus schultzi Bigelow, Schroeder & Springer, 1953

Open encyclopedia reference

The fringefin lanternshark (Etmopterus schultzi) is a shark of the family Etmopteridae found in the western central Atlantic from Texas to Florida, northern Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. It is endemic to this area. It is a deep water shark and is found about 220 to 915 meters below the surface, on the upper continental slopes of the Gulf. E. schultzi is a small shark, about 27–30 cm long and feeds on squid. It is also bioluminescent, which counter-illuminates it and helps with intraspecific interaction. Due to its limited range and the difficulty of collecting deep water species, it has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, but due to recent oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, it is likely that fringefin lanternsharks have decreased in population.

Wikipedia contributors, Fringefin lanternshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:30:35.804388+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Etmopterus schultzi Bigelow, Schroeder & Springer, 1953

Name authority

Bigelow, Schroeder & Springer, 1953

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassSelachii
10. superorderSqualomorphi
11. orderSqualiformes Compagno, 1973
12. familyEtmopteridae Fowler, 1934
13. genusEtmopterus Rafinesque, 1810
14. speciesEtmopterus schultzi Bigelow, Schroeder & Springer, 1953

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Etmopterus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 48 records assigned to Etmopteridae.

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.

1. Bigelow, H. B., Schroeder, W. C., & Springer, S. (1953). New and little known sharks from the Atlantic and from the Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, v. 109 (no. 3): 213–276. 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:3BM87. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.