SCYLIORHINIDAE CATSHARKS

Scyliorhinidae, or common name Catsharks belong to the order Carcharhiniformes or common name Ground sharks. This is the largest family of sharks, belonging to the largest order of sharks. Catsharks can be found world-wide from tropical waters, to even arctic waters. They are found usually on or near the seabed, from the intertidal zone to the very deep, well over 6,560 feet. They are often restricted to small ranges. Many Catsharks do not undertake long distance migrations. Many are very rarely seen, and only known from a few specimens. There is a lot of room for research among this family of sharks. Many of the sharks within the same genera are very hard to tell apart from one another.

Scyliorhinidae are usually small, less than 80 cm/2.6 feet in length, some may mature at 30 cm/11.8 inches and very few ever reach 160 cm/5.2 feet. Some of the smallest sharks in the worls belong to the family Scyliorhinidae. Catsharks have elongated bodies, two small spineless dorsal fins and no anal fin. The first dorsal fin base is usually over or behind the pelvic fin bases. The mouth is long and arched and reaches past the front end of the eyes. The eyes are very much cat-like in appearance. Several species have a patterned appearance, ranging from stripes to patches to spots. Most eat benthic invertebrates and small fish.

The biology of Scyliorhinidae is poorly known. Many Catsharks are oviparous. Some lay many pairs of eggs, contained I egg cases that have tendrils, on the seabed. With these species, hatching may take over a year. These are the more primitive species. The more advanced species will hold the eggs until the embryos are almost fully developed, which will hatch sometimes within a month. These species will lay many eggs. Some species are even ovoviviparous. Some species are very poor swimmers, some inshore species are nocturnal. Some species of Catsharks may sleep in groups in crevices during the day, and actively move out to feed during the night.

Some species are important to commercial fisheries, but not many. Some may be taken as bycatch. Catsharks are not dangerous to humans.

The family includes 16 genera (previously 17) and over 160 species, making it the largest family of sharks. Because of this large family group, we have broken the group down further by each genus.