Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Kitefin Shark

Squalus licha Bonnaterre, 1788: 12 . Holotype: Lost. Type locality: Capbreton, north of Bayonne, France, northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

Local synonymy: Scymnorhinus brevipinnis: Smith, 1936: 1, figs. 1–2. Scymnorhinus licha: Bass et al., 1986: 60, fig. 5.22. Dalatias licha: Smith, 1949a: 56, fig. 46; Smith, 1965: 56, fig. 46; Bass et al., 1976: 41; Compagno, 1984a: 63, fig.; Compagno et al., 1989: 34, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 115; Compagno et al., 2005: 125, fig., pl. 14; Ebert, 2013: 109, fig. 148; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 297, fig., pl. 17; Ebert & Mostada, 2013: 47, fig.; da Silva et al., 2015: 246; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144; Weigmann, 2016: 892.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 27 (Holotype of Dalatias brevipinnis) . SAIAB 6057, SAIAB 6059, SAIAB 6236, SAIAB 99092, SAM 25555, SAIAB 189052 .

South Africa distribution: Off Algoa Bay (EC) to Kosi Bay (KZN).

Remarks: Smith (1936) described Dalatias brevipinnis (Holotype SAIAB 27) from three specimens taken off Algoa Bay, 35 miles south of Cape Recife (EC). However, Smith (1949a) later placed his species in synonymy with D. licha . A common species off KZN and southern Mozambique, its range extends to off Algoa Bay where it is found in deep water over 400 m. Although it not very common in the EC, Bass et al. (1976) reported about five specimens that had been caught off Port Elizabeth.

Conservation status: VU (2018).