Trachyrincus scabrus (Rafinesque, 1810)
Roughsnout grenadier
photo by Ticina, V.

Family:  Trachyrincidae (Armoured grenadiers)
Max. size:  60 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 11 years
Environment:  bathydemersal; marine; depth range 395 - 1700 m, non-migratory
Distribution:  Eastern Atlantic: Irish slope to Cape Verde, including the Mediterranean. Occurrence in southern Africa is based only on specimens from off Namibia and not 'west coast of South Africa' as reported by Iwamoto 1986 (Ref. 2800 in FishBase) (Ref. 11953).
Diagnosis:  Snout long, narrow, sharply pointed. Dorsal scute row striating from just behind the head and extending to about behind a vertical through the anus, with more than 20 scute. Ventral scute row not reaching anus. Scute keels generally smooth blade-like, without multicuspid tips in small individuals (<30 cm), becoming more multicuspid with size. Scales adherent; belly completely scaled.
Biology:  Primarily a pelagic feeder, feeds primarily on pelagic copepods, but also takes mysids, shrimps, cephalopods, fish, polychaetes and gastropods (Ref. 1371). Mainly reduced to fishmeal and oil (Ref. 1371).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 15 May 2012 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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