Squatina africana Regan, 1908a

African Angelshark

Squatina africana Regan, 1908a: 248, pl. 38. Holotype: BMNH 1906.11.19.21, male, 800 mm TL. Type locality: Durban Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, southwestern Indian Ocean.

Local synonymy: Squatina africana: Regan, 1908a: 248, pl. 38; Gilchrist & Thompson, 1916: 284; Barnard, 1925: 54, fig. 5, pl. 3; Smith, 1949a: 61, fig. 55, pl. 3; Smith, 1965: 6, fig. 55, pl. 3; Bass et al., 1975d: 21; Compagno, 1984a: 141, fig.; Bass, 1986: 107, fig. 21.2; Compagno et al., 1989: 36, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 115; Compagno et al., 2005: 138, fig., pl. 17; Ebert, 2013: 131, fig. 169; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 190, fig., pl. 20; Ebert & Mostada, 2013: 10, fig.; NPOA, 2013: 51; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Weigmann, 2016: 905.

South Africa voucher material: Holotype: BMNH 1906.11.19.21. Non-types: SAIAB 6221, SAIAB 6222, SAIAB 6223, SAIAB 6224, SAIAB 7082, SAIAB 8532, SAIAB 11458, SAIAB 26960, SAIAB 27583, SAIAB 48523, SAIAB 53275, SAIAB 99189, SAIAB 188976, SAIAB 188977.

South Africa distribution: Mostly from Algoa Bay (EC) to northern KZN, but occasionally west to Mossel Bay and Knysna (WC).

Remarks: A common species off KZN, but it is uncommon to rare off Mozambique, Tanzania, and Madagascar. Records from off Somalia, Socotra Island (Yemen), and Mauritius (Fricke, 1999a) should be carefully examined to determine if this is the same or a different species. A single specimen landed at a fishing port in India (Ambily et al., 2018) is likely to have originated in African waters given that fishing vessels fish widely in the Indian Ocean.

Conservation status: NT (2019).