Pacific sleeper shark

A 14-foot Pacific sleeper shark - estimated at 1,500 pounds - was found last week on the shores of New Brighton State Beach in Capitola. More

The Pacific sleeper shark, Somniosus pacificus, is a sleeper shark of the family Somniosidae, found circumglobally on continental shelves and slopes in temperate waters between latitudes 70°N and 47°S, from the surface to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Its length is up to 4. More

The Pacific sleeper shark is dark gray to black with blue-black fins. The snout is short and rounded, the body is cylindrical, and the 2 dorsal fins are equal in size. The first dorsal fin is closer to the pelvic fins than the pectoral fins. More

poses with a Pacific sleeper shark in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Photo courtesy NMFS. More

the largest captured Pacific sleeper shark was 14.4 feet (4.4 m). A specimen in Kachemak Bay measured 12.9 feet (3.93m) total length. More

received reports of numerous catches of Pacific sleeper sharks in the central Cook Inlet halibut fishery. They had not heard much about Pacific sleeper sharks in Cook Inlet in past years. More

The Pacific sleeper shark has a heavy, cylindrical body that is grayish or brownish in color. It has two dorsal, or top, fins of equal size but no anal fin. The dorsal fins lack the rigid frontal spine that is found in some other sharks. More

report high catches of Pacific sleeper sharks on halibut surveys in the central Gulf of Alaska. More

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Pacific sleeper sharks are reputed to be inedible due to a toxin in the flesh, but this has not been verified. The greenland shark, a similar species from the North Atlantic, has been proven toxic if not properly prepared. More

Sharks - Salmon sharks, Pacific sleeper sharks, and spiny dogfish have been tagged in Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, and Seward area waters since 1998. More

currently 5 Pacific Sleeper Shark pictures on this page. To view a picture of a Pacific Sleeper Shark click on the thumbnails below. Once you are viewing a picture, use the thumbnails below it to navigate to other Pacific Sleeper Shark pictures. More

Pacific Sleeper Shark On Sand Beach Next 2 >> Back to Pacific Sleeper Shark Pictures Main Page None of the shark pictures on this site are owned by Shark-Pictures.com. More

No image of Pacific Sleeper shark found in the Shark Database Range Map Earth Map Names Scientific: Somniosus pacificus German: Pazifischer Schlafhai More

Pacific sleeper sharks are actually not sleepy at all. Named for their supposed sluggish nature, sleeper sharks were for many years thought to be quiet bottom dwellers, feeding primarily on arrowtooth flounder and octopus. More

Common names

Greenland shark in English
Greenland sleeper shark in Unknown
K'wet'thenéchte in Salish
Laimargue dormeur in French (français)
Ondenzame in Japanese (日本語)
Pacific sleeper shark in English
Pacifische ijshaai in Dutch (Nederlands)
Requin dormeur du Pacifique in French (français)
sleeper shark in English
Southern sleeper shark in English
Stillehavshavkal in Danish (dansk)
Tiburón dormilón del Pacifico in Spanish (español)
Tollo dormilón in Spanish (español)
Tollo negro dormilón in Spanish (español)
Whitely's sleeper shark in English
Акула полярная тихоокеанская in Russian (русский язык)
акула тихоокеанская полярная in Russian (русский язык)
太平洋睡鯊 in Mandarin Chinese
太平洋睡鲨 in Mandarin Chinese

Picture of Somniosus microcephalus has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial.
Original source: FishBase
-FAO -Author: FAO
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Squaliformes
Family : Somniosidae
Genus : Somniosus
Species : Somniosus microcephalus
Authority : Bigelow and Schroeder, 1944