Apristurus spongiceps (Gilbert, 1905)
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 spongehead catshark (Apristurus spongiceps) is a rare species of shark belonging to the family Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. This species was only known from two specimens taken in the Pacific Ocean: an adult from near Bird Island, Hawaii, and a juvenile from the Banda Sea off Sulawesi. They are found on or near the bottoms of insular continental slopes, at depths of 570 to 1,480 m (1,870 to 4,860 ft). In 2002, the spongehead catshark was seen alive in its natural habitat for the first time, from the submersible Pisces IV at a depth of about a kilometer, on the Northampton Seamount off the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The spongehead catshark has a thick body and head, with a moderately long, broadly rounded snout. The five pairs of gill slits are very small, and the septa between them are covered with unique pleats and folds that extend above and below, over the throat. The eyes are small and the nostrils are broad, with slit-like incurrent and excurrent openings.
Wikipedia contributors, Spongehead catshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:03:17.516546+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apristurus spongiceps (Gilbert, 1905)
- Name authority
- (Gilbert, 1905)
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderGaleomorphi
- orderCarcharhiniformes
- familyPentanchidae Smith, 1912
- genusApristurus Garman, 1913
- speciesApristurus spongiceps (Gilbert, 1905)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Apristurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brown catsharkApristurus brunneus (Gilbert, 1892) | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus albisoma Nakaya & Séret, 1999 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus ampliceps Sasahara, Sato & Nakaya, 2008 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| white ghost catsharkApristurus aphyodes Nakaya & Stehmann, 1998 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus australis Sato, Nakaya & Yorozu, 2008 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus breviventralis Kawauchi, Weigmann & Nakaya, 2014 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus bucephalus White, Last & Pogonoski, 2008 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus herklotsi (Fowler, 1934) | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| smallbelly catsharkApristurus indicus (Brauer, 1906) | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus investigatoris (Misra, 1962) | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apristurus japonicus Nakaya, 1975 | PentanchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Iceland catsharkApristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922) | PentanchidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Parapristurus spongiceps (Gilbert, 1905) (Gilbert, 1905) | synonym |
| Pentanchus spongiceps (Gilbert, 1905) (Gilbert, 1905) | synonym |
| Catulus spongiceps Gilbert, 1905 Gilbert, 1905 | 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=271352 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:68345. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.