Author: (Lowe, 1839)
Deania calceus (Lowe, 1839)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Deania calcea (Lowe, 1839) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: snout long, depressed, narrowing abruptly at nostrils, tip rounded; anterior nasal flap bilobed, subdividing aperture into medial and lateral openings; pre-oral clefts long, up to two-thirds distance to symphysis. Upper teeth with triangular cusp, oblique posteriorly; lower teeth oblique, low, forming single cutting edge. Eye twice as long as high. Spiracle subtriangular, level with top of eye. Pectoral fins lobate, corners broadly rounded; first and second dorsal fins very low with long bases (3 times height); first dorsal apex not well defined, free tip long and slender, second dorsal fin similar to first, but apex more prominent, its origin over or behind pelvic insertion; first dorsal spine barely exposed, second spine long, curved, almost reaching apex of fin; pelvic fins subtriangular, apex broadly rounded; caudal fin moderately broad, upper lobe with truncate tip, lower lobe moderately developed. Colour: grey to dark brown. Size: to 111 cm, mature at 69-84 cm.
Habitat: slope species of temperate waters, at depths of 400-1,000 m, common to 600 m, apparently antitropical. Food: ?fishes. Reproduction: ?ovoviviparous, young born at less than 30 cm.
Distribution: northward to the Faroes and Iceland. Elsewhere, possibly as far south as Senegal (where it is replaced by another species); also, northern and southern Pacific.