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broadgill catshark

Apristurus riveri Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944

Source-backed taxonomic record

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 broadgill catshark (Apristurus riveri) is a species of shark belonging to the family Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. This shark is found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, between 30°N and 9° N, on the continental slopes at depths between 700 and 1,500 m. Its length is up to 46 cm. The reproduction of the broadgill catshark is oviparous.

This species is benthic, it ranges from Florida, Cuba, and Hispaniola and along the Central American coast south to Venezuela. The broadgill catshark's eggs are smooth-surfaced, translucent, greenish with indistinct bands of lighter color.

Wikipedia contributors, Broadgill catshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:23:50.418420+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Apristurus riveri Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944
Name authority
Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944
Common name
broadgill catshark
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Elasmobranchii
Order
Carcharhiniformes
Family
Pentanchidae
Genus
Apristurus
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. superorderGaleomorphi
  11. orderCarcharhiniformes
  12. familyPentanchidae Smith, 1912
  13. genusApristurus Garman, 1913
  14. speciesApristurus riveri Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Brown catsharkApristurus brunneus (Gilbert, 1892)PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus albisoma Nakaya & Séret, 1999PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus ampliceps Sasahara, Sato & Nakaya, 2008PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
white ghost catsharkApristurus aphyodes Nakaya & Stehmann, 1998PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus australis Sato, Nakaya & Yorozu, 2008PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus breviventralis Kawauchi, Weigmann & Nakaya, 2014PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus bucephalus White, Last & Pogonoski, 2008PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus herklotsi (Fowler, 1934)PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
smallbelly catsharkApristurus indicus (Brauer, 1906)PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus investigatoris (Misra, 1962)PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Apristurus japonicus Nakaya, 1975PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Iceland catsharkApristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)PentanchidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 58 records assigned to Pentanchidae.

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. (1944). New sharks from the western North Atlantic. Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club, v. 23: 21–36, Pls. 7–10. 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:6833T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.