Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Articles
Published: 2011-08-24
Page range: 17–30
Abstract views: 102
PDF downloaded: 1

Gollum suluensis sp. nov. (Carcharhiniformes: Pseudotriakidae), a new gollum-shark from the southern Philippines

CSIRO Marine Laboratories, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, 7001, AUSTRALIA
WWF-Philippines, 4th Floor JBD Plaza, 65 Mindanao Avenue, Barangay Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City, 1105, PHILIPPINES
Fish Pseudotriakidae false catshark Gollum suluensis new species Sulu Sea Philippines

Abstract

A second nominal species of the pseudotriakid genus Gollum, otherwise known as false catsharks or gollumsharks, is described on the basis of seven specimens collected from the Sulu Sea. Gollum suluensis sp. nov., was discovered at the Puerto Princesa fish market in Palawan during a project initiated by the World Wildlife Fund during the 1990s to investigate elasmobranch biodiversity in the Philippines. The genus Gollum is presently represented by a single nominal species G. attenuatus (Garrick), known from the outer continental shelf and upper slope adjacent New Zealand. Gollum suluensis differs from its congener in having a darker, plainer and less contrasted coloration, softer body, shorter and broader snout, smaller spiracle, larger pectoral fin, wider head, as well as larger proportions of the nostril, mouth and interorbital space. Based on their narrow and widely separated distributions, these sharks are probably relict species.

References

  1. Compagno, L.J.V. (1973) Ctenacis and Gollum, two new genera of sharks (Selachii: Carcharhinidae). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4 (39), 257–272.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1984) FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4, Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date (Part 2, Carcharhiniformes). FAO Fisheries Synopsis, 125, 4 (2), 251–655.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1988) Sharks of the order Carcharhiniformes. Princetown University Press, New Jersey, 486 pp.

    Compagno, L.J.V. (1999) Checklist of living elasmobranchs, 471–498. In: Hamlett, W. C. (Ed.) Sharks, skates, and rays: the biology of elasmobranch fishes, Science Publishers, Enfield.

    Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. & Fowler, S. (2005a) A field guide to the Sharks of the World. Harper Collins Publishing Ltd., London, 368 pp.

    Compagno, L.J.V., Last, P.R., Stevens J.D. & Alava, M.N.R. (2005b) Checklist of Philippine Chondrichthyes. CSIRO Marine Laboratories Report 243, 103 pp.

    Garrick, J.A.F. (1954) Studies on New Zealand Elasmobranchii. Part III, a new species of Triakis (Selachii) from New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 82 (3), 695–702.

    Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2006. Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Philippine collections (Accessed through GBIF Data Portal, data.gbif.org, 2011-07-06).

    Séret, B. (1997) Poissons de profondeur de Nouvelle–Calédonie: apports des campagnes MUSORSTOM. Deepwater fishes of New–Caledonia: contributions of the MUSORSTOM cruises. In: B. Séret (ed.), Résultats des campagnes MUSORSTOM, vol. 17. Mémoire Mus. natn. Hist. nat., 174, 9–16.

    Williams, A., Gowlett-Holmes K. & Althaus F. (2006) Biodiversity survey of seamounts & slopes of the Norfolk Ridge and Lord Howe Rise – NORFANZ Voyage, 10 May to 8 June 2003. Final report to the Department of the Environment and Heritage (National Oceans Office). NIWA & CSIRO, 591 pp.

    Yano, K. (1993a) Reproductive biology of the slender smoothhound, Gollum attenuatus, collected from New Zealand waters. Environmental Biology of fishes, 38, 59–71.

    Yano, K. (1993b) Distribution and food habits of the slender smoothhound, Gollum attenuatus, from the waters around New Zealand. Japanese J of Ichthyology 39 (4), 345–356.