Portuguese dogfish

Open encyclopedia reference

The Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis) or Portuguese shark, is a species of sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae. This globally distributed species has been reported down to a depth of 3,675 m (12,057 ft), making it the deepest-living shark known. It inhabits lower continental slopes and abyssal plains, usually staying near the bottom. Stocky and dark brown in color, the Portuguese dogfish can be distinguished from similar-looking species (such as the kitefin shark, Dalatias licha) by the small spines in front of its dorsal fins. Its dermal denticles are also unusual, resembling the scales of a bony fish. This species typically reaches 0.9–1 m (3.0–3.3 ft) in length; sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are much smaller and have distinct depth and food preferences. Relatively common, the Portuguese dogfish is an active hunter capable of tackling fast, large prey. It feeds mainly on cephalopods and fishes, though it also consumes invertebrates and cetacean carrion. This shark has acute vision optimized for detecting the bioluminescence of its prey, as sunlight does not reach the depths at which it lives.

Wikipedia contributors, Portuguese dogfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:30:54.661035+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Centroscymnus coelolepis Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello, 1864

Name authority

Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello, 1864

Common name

Portuguese dogfish

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Squaliformes

Family

Somniosidae

Genus

Centroscymnus

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. familySomniosidae Jordan, 1888
13. genusCentroscymnus Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello, 1864
14. speciesCentroscymnus coelolepis Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello, 1864

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 13 records assigned to Somniosidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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. Barbosa du Bocage, J. V. and F. de Brito Capello. (1864). Sur quelques espèces inédites de Squalidae de la tribu Acanthiana, Gray, qui fréquentent les côtes du Portugal. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864, 2. 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.

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:SBFL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.