Apristurus saldanha ( Barnard, 1925 )

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 : 46-47

Apristurus saldanha ( Barnard, 1925)

Saldanha Catshark

Scylliorhinus saldanha Barnard, 1925: 44 . Holotype: lost. Type locality: off Saldanha Bay , Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Local synonymy: Scylliorhinus saldanha : Barnard, 1925: 44. Scyliorhinus (Apristurus) saldanha: Norman, 1935: 36 . Pentanchus saldanha: Fowler, 1941: 59 . Apristurus saldanha: Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948b: 221 ; Bass et al., 1975a: 8, figs. 5, 20a; Springer, 1979: 29; Compagno, 1984b: 282, fig.; Bass, 1986: 89, fig. 11.2; Compagno, 1988a: 169; Compagno et al., 1989: 46, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 77; Ebert et al., 1996: 235; Compagno, 1999: 119; Compagno et al., 2005: 200, fig., pl. 31; Ebert et al., 2006: 1058, fig. 4c; Flammang et al., 2007: 308; Ebert, 2013: 168, fig. 210; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 295, fig., pl. 36; Ebert & Mostada, 2013: 53, fig.; NPOA, 2013: 45; Kawauchi et al., 2014: 9; Ebert, 2015: 146, fig. 161; Ebert & Mostada, 2015: 43, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 147; Compagno, 2016: 1264, fig.; Weigmann, 2016: 869. Pentanchus microps: Smith, 1949a: 54 (in part, Scylliorhinus saldanha in synonymy; Smith, 1965: 54 (in part).

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 25464, SAIAB 25934, SAIAB 25935, SAIAB 27438, SAIAB 54997, SAIAB 61751, SAIAB 64133, SAIAB 190354.

South African distribution: Endemic. Cape Columbine (WC) to about Algoa Bay (EC). A possible record from southern Namibia requires confirmation.

Remarks: A very large Apristurus species, up to at least 88 cm TL, A. saldanha was briefly described without an illustration, and the holotype was subsequently lost.

Conservation status: LC (2019).