WHAT TO LOOK FOR
A large stout shark, with a moderately long, broad tail and long gill slits.

COLOR
Blackish body.

SIZE
Mature females are approximately 2.1 ft [65 cm] long. Their maximum length is 2.5 ft [75 cm].

HABITAT
These sharks frequent the continental slopes, on or near the bottom from 1148.3 to7260.5 ft [350 to 2213 m] deep. On the north Atlantic lower rise, they are found from 12303.1 to 14763.8 ft [3750-4500 m].

DISTRIBUTION
Northwest Atlantic from Nova Scotia to New Jersey. In the northeast Atlantic, they are found between Greenland and Iceland to the northwest of Africa and Azores. Their nominal range in the south Atlantic and western Pacific is uncertain.

BIOLOGY
Reproduction – Presumably ovoviviparous.

STATUS
Probably a bycatch in east Atlantic slope fisheries.