Echinorhinus brucus Bonnaterre, 1788

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 : 20

Echinorhinus brucus Bonnaterre, 1788

Bramble Shark

Squalus brucus Bonnaterre, 1788: 11 . Holotype: lost. Type locality: “L’Ocean” ( North Atlantic ).

Local synonymy: Echinorhinus obesus: Smith, 1849 : pl. 1 (original description, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa). Echinorhinus spinosus : Duméril, 1865: 459; Gilchrist, 1902: 166; Thompson, 1914: 151; Barnard, 1925: 46, fig. 6, pl. 2; Barnard, 1947: 16, fig. 3, pl. 3. Echinorhinus brucus: Smith, 1949a: 56 , fig. 44; Smith, 1965: 56, fig. 44; Bass et al., 1976: 51, fig. 36, pl. 11; Compagno, 1984a: 26, fig.; Bass & Compagno, 1986: 63, fig. 6.1; Compagno et al., 1989: 20, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 54; Compagno, 1999: 114; Compagno et al., 2005: 70, fig., pl. 5; Ebert, 2013: 49, fig. 46; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 72, fig., pl. 2; Ebert & Mostarda, 2013: 18, fig.; Ebert, 2015: 52, fig. 50; Ebert & Mostarda, 2015: 16, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144; Compagno, 2016: 1152; Weigmann, 2016: 888.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 6254 [former ORI 936].

South Africa distribution: The west coast from the Orange River (NC) to KZN border with Mozambique.

Remarks: Although this is considered a deep-sea species it is caught occasionally in relatively shallow water, less than 50 m deep, and occasionally off beaches by rock and surf anglers along the west coast during the winter ( Compagno et al., 1989).

Conservation status: EN (2020).