Author: Collett, 1904
Etmopterus princeps Collett, 1904
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Etmopterus princeps Collett, 1904 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: snout thick, wedge-shaped, narrowing in front of mouth, length 40 50% head length; nostrils close to snout tip; eye long, 2.5 times its height. Mouth low-arched to nearly straight, labial furrows extending forward one-third distance to symphysis. Upper teeth with 5 cusps, medial largest (small specimens with only 3 cusps); lower teeth with strongly oblique cusps, forming nearly continuous cutting edge. Gill filaments visible from first three gill-slits; fifth noticeably shorter. Spiracle level with top of eye. Second dorsal spine behind pelvic fin bases, its length threequarters anterior margin of fin; caudal fin broad (one-third length), tip obliquely truncate, sub-terminal notch present, lower lobe moderately developed. Dermal denticles without conspicuous median spine. Colour: dark brown to black dorsally, no spot between eyes; black ventrally, but dark patches not noticeable; outer edges of fins dark. Size: to 75 cm, matures at about 54 cm.
Habitat: benthic from 300 to 2,000 m. Food: ?fishes. Reproduction: ovoviviparous.
Distribution: off Gibraltar, also off the Hebrides, the Faroes and Iceland Elsewhere, from north-east United States to Nova Scotia.
Eggs, embryonic and young stages. Collett, 1905: 31-32 (young).