Chlamydoselachus africana Ebert & Compagno, 2009

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 17-18

Chlamydoselachus africana Ebert & Compagno, 2009

Southern African Frilled Shark

Chlamydoselachus africana Ebert & Compagno, 2009: 3 , Figs. 1 –4, 6. Holotype: SAM 31028. Type locality: Off Cunene River , Namibia, 19°59'S, 11°48'E, southeastern Atlantic.

Local synonymy: Chlamydoselachus anguineus: Smith, 1951: 87 ; Smith, 1965: 511, fig. 3b; Smith, 1967a: 105, pls. 19–23; Bass et al., 1975d: 16, fig. 9, pl. 6; Compagno, 1984a: 14, fig. (in part); Bass, 1986: 47, fig. 3.1; Compagno et al., 1989: 20, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 51. Chlamydoselachus sp. A: Ebert, 1990: 217, figs. 3.1, 3.12 (in part); Compagno, 1999: 114; Compagno et al., 2005: 66, fig., pl. 1. Chlamydoselachus sp. nov.: Compagno, 1999: 114. Chlamydoselachus africana: Barnett et al., 2012: 967 ; Ebert, 2013: 33–34; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 64, fig., pl. 1; Ebert & Mostarda, 2013: 9; NPOA, 2013: 37; Ebert, 2015: 36–40, fig. 34; da Silva et al., 2015: 246; Ebert & Mostarda, 2015: 9, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144; Compagno, 2016: 1144; Weigmann, 2016: 887.

South Africa voucher material: None. All known specimens caught in South African waters were discarded.

South Africa distribution: South African range poorly-defined with records off the Cape Peninsula (WC) ( R. W. Leslie, formerly, Department of Agriculture , Forestry and Fisheries [ DAFF], Cape Town, South Africa , pers. comm.), the EC, and KZN ( Ebert & Compagno, 2009) .

Remarks: An apparent southern African endemic presently confirmed from southern Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. A single specimen was reported by Smith (1951) to have been caught off the Port Alfred Pier (EC), but the specimen was not retained. Since no specimens have been captured and examined since the description of C. africana , all South African literature records of frilled sharks are attributed to this species for now. Records of frilled sharks from seamounts off Mozambique should also be carefully examined ( Ebert, 2013).

Conservation status: LC (2019).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing localities mentioned in the text. 1 = Orange River, 2 = Port Nolloth, 3 = Doring Bay, 4 = St. Helena Bay, 5 = Cape Columbine, 6 = Saldana Say, 7 = Langebaan Lagoon, 8 = Cape Town, 9 = Table Bay, 10 = Cape Peninsula, 11 = Cape Point, 12 = False Bay, 13 = Cape Agulhas, 14 = Mossel Bay, 15 = Knysna, 16 = Plettenberg Bay, 17 = Cape St. Francis, 18 = Algoa Bay, 19 = Port Alfred, 20 = East London, 21 = Coffee Bay, 22 = Port St. Johns, 23 = Port Shepstone, 24 = Durban, 25 = Richards Bay, 26 = Sodwana Bay, 27 = Kosi Bay. The grey line depicts the former Transkei coast.