Sevengill Shark Sightings

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichthyes

Subclass: Elasmobranchii

Order: Hexanchiformes

Family: Hexanchidae

Genus: Notorynchus

Species: N. cepedianus

The broadnose sevengill shark, Notorynchus cepedianus, is the only extant member of the genus Notorynchus, in the family Hexanchidae. It is recognizable because of its 7 gill slits, while most shark species have 5 gill slits, with the exception of the members of the order Hexanchiformes.

The shark is gray or brownish with spots, and its top jaw has jagged cusped teeth and the bottom comb shaped. This adaptation allows the shark to eat sharks, rays, fish, seals, and carrion. The sharks live in temperate areas up to 135 m (450 ft) deep and have only attacked humans in captivity. This shark is ovoviviparous, bearing live young. It grows up to 300 cm (10feet) long.

Marine Species Identification Portal:

http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=sharks&id=150

Monterey Bay Aquarium: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/AnimalDetails.aspx?enc=n3f4wmcSJaOH2mA9dNs3Vg==

Due to a rather dramatic increase in sightings and encounters between San Diego divers and this species,  just in the last 2 years, I’ve decided to set up this website devoted to the Sevengill Shark.

This is a site designed to be a central repository for data related to Sevengill shark sightings: photographs, video and dive reports. Please email material you wish to be considered to:

Mike Bear at: scubapro.bear@gmail.com

All photographs will be watermarked with the photographer’s name and ‘All Rights Reserved/Copyrighted Material.’

–For the protection of these animals, GPS locations are not given here. Those in the scientific or research community with a need-to-know for research purposes may contact me.

Sister site to: http://raptureofthedeep.org

Acknowledgments:

I’d like to thank the following people for their valuable input and suggestions:

Vallorie Hodges, DSO of the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which has 9 Sevengill sharks: http://www.aquarium.org/

and:

Dr. David Ebert, Program Manager at the Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing, CA

http://research.calacademy.org/ichthyology/staff/debert

as well as:

Alison Kock, Marine Biologist with Save Our Seas Foundation:

http://www.saveourseas.com/alisonkock