swell shark
Cephaloscyllium ventriosum (Garman, 1880)
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 swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) is a catshark in the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean from between central California to southern Mexico, with an additional population off the coast of Chile. They are known to have brown and white spots along with broad heads. As a defense, the swell shark is able to expand to approximately double its regular size by swallowing water. They depend on electrical signals to find prey, camouflaging in rocky crevices.
Wikipedia contributors, Swell shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:46.141089+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cephaloscyllium ventriosum (Garman, 1880)
- Name authority
- (Garman, 1880)
- Common name
- swell shark
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Carcharhiniformes
- Family
- Scyliorhinidae
- Genus
- Cephaloscyllium
- 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
- familyScyliorhinidae Gill, 1862
- genusCephaloscyllium Gill, 1862
- speciesCephaloscyllium ventriosum (Garman, 1880)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cephaloscyllium. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cephaloscyllium albipinnum Last, Motomura & White, 2008 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium laticeps (Duméril, 1853) | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium hiscosellum White & Ebert, 2008 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blotchy swell sharkCephaloscyllium umbratile Jordan & Fowler, 1903 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium sarawakense Yano, Ahmad & Gambang, 2005 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium signourum Last, Séret & White, 2008 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium pictum Last, Séret & White, 2008 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium silasi (Talwar, 1974) | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium zebrum Last & White, 2008 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium stevensi Clark & Randall, 2011 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cephaloscyllium fasciatum Chan, 1966 | ScyliorhinidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Scyllium ventriosum Garman, 1880 Garman, 1880 | synonym |
| Cephaloscyllium uter (Jordan & Gilbert, 1896) (Jordan & Gilbert, 1896) | synonym |
| Catulus uter Jordan & Gilbert, 1896 Jordan & Gilbert, 1896 | 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=277105 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:69K9M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.