Author: (Vaillant, 1888)
Scymnodon obscurus (Vaillant, 1888)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Scymnodon obscurus (Vaillant, 1888) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: snout long, slightly more than mouth breadth, narrowing at nostrils to ovate tip; inter-nostril distance greater than distance from snout tip to line between inner corner of nostrils; pre-oral clefts extend one-third distance to symphysis, and posteriorly halfway to first gill-slit; upper labial furrows extend halfway, lower labial furrows one-third way to their respective symphyses. Upper teeth erect, lanceolate; lower teeth triangular, first two or three erect to oblique, remainder strongly oblique. Gill openings short, 1 4 approximately equal in length, fifth longer. First dorsal fin origin behind appressed pectoral, spine barely exposed and short; second dorsal fin larger than first, free tip well in advance of caudal origin; caudal fin broad, upper tip truncate, sub-terminal notch distinct lower lobe well defined. Denticles with 5-7 transverse ridges. Colour: uniformly brown. Size: mature at 50 cm.
Habitat: benthic to mesopelagic, deeper than 200 m. Food: ?fishes. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: Madeira and Morocco to Iceland. Elsewhere, off Brazil and off south-east Africa.