Hexanchidae, Gray, 1851

Biscoito, Manuel, Ribeiro, Cláudia & Freitas, Mafalda, 2018, Annotated checklist of the fishes of the archipelago of Madeira (NE Atlantic): I-Chondrichthyes, Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 459-494 : 462

Family Hexanchidae

* Heptranchias perlo (Bonnaterre, 1788)—Bico-doce; Sharpnose seven–gill shark

Lowe 1838: 194 | Günther 1870: 398 (as Notidanus cinereus )

Nobre 1935: 414 (as Heptanchus cinereus )

Fowler 1936: 27 | Noronha & Sarmento 1948: 94 | Maul 1948: 137 | Nunes 1953: 63 | Albuquerque 1954 –56: 77 | Boeseman 1973: 9 | Boeseman 1984: 72 | Sanches 1986: 50 | Carneiro et al. 2014: 12.

Distribution in Macaronesia. Madeira, Azores ( Santos et al. 1997; Porteiro et al. 2010), Canary Islands ( Brito et al. 2002; Brito Hernández & Sancho Rafel 2003) and Cape Verde ( Reiner 1996; 2005; Menezes et al. 2004).

Remarks. There are two specimens in MMF collection (MMF36031, MMF42318), the oldest dating back from 1961. Maul (1948) refers as frequent, all year.

* Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788) — Albafar; Bluntnose sixgill shark

Lowe 1838: 194 (as Notidanus griseus )

Belloc 1934: 151 | Noronha & Sarmento 1934: 96 and 140 | Fowler 1936: 26 | Noronha & Sarmento 1948: 91 | Maul 1948: 137 | Nunes 1953: 52 | Albuquerque 1954 –56: 75 | Boeseman 1984: 73 | Sanches 1986: 49 | Carneiro et al. 2014: 12.

Distribution in Macaronesia. Madeira, Azores ( Santos et al. 1997; Porteiro et al. 2010), Canary Islands ( Brito et al. 2002; Brito Hernández & Sancho Rafel 2003) and Cape Verde ( Reiner 1996, 2005).

Remarks. there are three specimens in MMF collection (one mounted on exhibition), the oldest dated from 1951 and the most recent from 2007. Although Maul (1948) refers as rare, there are regular observations of interaction between this species and deep bottom fish traps.