Cephaloscyllium sufflans (Regan, 1921)

Balloon Shark

Scyliorhinus (Cephaloscyllium) sufflans Regan, 1921: 413 . Holotype (unique): BMNH 1921.3.1.2. Type locality: About 24–35 kilometers off Umvoti River, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, southwestern Indian Ocean.

Local synonymy: Scylliorhinus sufflans: Regan, 1921: 413; Gilchrist, 1922b: 46; Barnard, 1925: 41; Barnard, 1947: 16. Cephaloscyllium sufflans: Fowler, 1936: 362, figs. 2–3; Fowler, 1941: 33; Smith, 1949a: 52, fig. 34; Smith, 1965: 52, fig. 34; Bass et al., 1975a: Springer, 1979: 29; Compagno, 1984b: 302, fig.; Bass, 1986: 89, fig. 11.3; Compagno, 1988a: 113; Compagno et al., 1989: 46, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 119; Compagno et al., 2005: 218, fig., pl. 36; Ebert, 2013: 174, fig. 228; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 331, fig., pl. 43; Ebert & Mostarda, 2013: 61, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 147; Weigmann, 2016: 874.

South Africa voucher material: Holotype: BMNH 1921.3.1.2.

South African distribution: From off Durban to the KZN border with Mozambique.

Remarks: This species was recently recorded from Madagascar (Fricke et al., 2018). Also, a 48 cm TL species was once found in the stomach of a coelacanth from the Comoro Islands (Heemstra et al., 2006). Records from the Gulf of Aden are dubious.

Conservation status: NT (2020).