The granular dogfish, Centroscyllium granulatum, is a little-known very small dogfish

Squaliformes

Squaliformes is an order of sharks that includes about 97 species in seven families.Members of the order have two dorsal fins, which usually possess spines, no anal fin or nictitating membrane, and five gill slits. In most other respects, however, they are quite variable in form and size...

 shark

Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....

 of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Dalatiidae

Dalatiidae

Dalatiidae is a family of sharks in the order Squaliformes, commonly known as kitefin sharks . Members of this family are small, under long, and are found worldwide. They have cigar-shaped bodies with narrow heads and rounded snouts...

, endemic to the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

.

Physical characteristics

The granular dogfish has no anal fin, two dorsal spines with the second one much larger than the first, a large second dorsal fin

Dorsal fin

A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

, a long abdomen, small pectoral and pelvic fins, a large eye, prominent nostrils and spiracle

Spiracle

Spiracles are openings on the surface of some animals that usually lead to respiratory systems.-Vertebrates:The spiracle is a small hole behind each eye that opens to the mouth in some fishes. In the primitive jawless fish the first gill opening immediately behind the mouth is essentially similar...

s, and brownish-black coloration. It is very small, growing to only 28 cm.

Habits and habitat

Almost nothing is known about this shark. It has been caught at around 450 m depth.