Iceland catshark
Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)
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 Iceland or Icelandic catshark (Apristurus laurussonii) is a species of shark, belonging to the family Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. This catshark is found in the western Atlantic, from Massachusetts, Delaware, and the northern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the eastern Atlantic from Iceland, southwestern Ireland, the Canary Islands, Madeira, South Africa, and between 67 and 11°N. They are found in depths of 550 to 1450 meters near or at the bottom over upper continental slopes.
Wikipedia contributors, Iceland catshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:00:23.361332+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)
- Name authority
- (Saemundsson, 1922)
- Common name
- Iceland 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderGaleomorphi
- orderCarcharhiniformes
- familyPentanchidae Smith, 1912
- genusApristurus Garman, 1913
- speciesApristurus laurussonii (Saemundsson, 1922)
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 |
| smalleye catsharkApristurus microps (Gilchrist, 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 |
|---|---|
| Apristurus atlanticus (Koefoed, 1927) (Koefoed, 1927) | synonym |
| Scylliorhinus atlanticus Koefoed, 1927 Koefoed, 1927 | synonym |
| Scyllium laurussonii Saemundsson, 1922 Saemundsson, 1922 | synonym |
| Apristurus laurussoni (Saemundsson, 1922) (Saemundsson, 1922) | synonym |
| Apristurus maderensis Cadenat & Maul, 1966 Cadenat & Maul, 1966 | 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=105807 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:FWYQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.