Author: Frade, 1929
Oxynotus paradoxus Frade, 1929
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Oxynotus paradoxus Frade, 1929 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: small sharks with body triangular in cross-section, very deep and very compressed. Mouth very small; lips thick, spongy, with a complex series of cross-folds; lower teeth in 13-15 series. Gill openings 5, very small. Two very high triangular dorsal fins, the first long, falcate, each with a large spine originating about at midpoint of their bases; first dorsal fin spine sloping a little backward; distance from tip of second dorsal spine to tip of fin generally as long as the spine (tip to base). A horizontal dermal ridge between bases of pelvic and pectoral fins. Colour: black without blotches. Size: to about 118 cm, usually 70-85 cm.
Habitat: benthic on upper slope at 265-720 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: size at birth about 25 cm.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic northward to Scotland. Elsewhere, southward to Senegal.