ANGLE SHARK

Order: Squatiniformes.
Family: Squatinidae.
Distribution:  Northeast Atlantic Ocean, between southern Norway and Sweden to Morocco and Western Sahara, including the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean Sea.
Measurements: Their average size is 150 cm (but specimens have been recorded up to 244 cm and weighing 80 kg.).
Food: fish, crustaceans and molluscs.
Special characteristics: cartilaginous fish that looks like something halfway between a shark and a ray.
Status of the species: critically endangered.

The angle shark (Squatina Squatina) are common in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, although difficult to observe because they usually live at a depth of 5-150 m, half buried in the sand waiting to capture their prey. They are most active during the night when they actively look for fish, crustaceans and molluscs to feed on. Their coloration is remarkably similar to the sandy bottom, where they tend to live.

They are a cartilaginous fish that looks like something halfway between a shark and a ray. They have a broad, flat head like rays while the rest of the body is much more similar to sharks. They have well-developed pectoral fins at the end of which there are 5 gill slits, in a dorsal position. The mouth is located at the end of the head and is adorned with small peripheral dermal lobes that serve to detect food buried in the sand.

Their average size is 150 cm, but specimens have been recorded up to 244 cm and weighing 80 kg. They are ovoviviparous, which means that the eggs develop and hatch within the body of the mother. They have between 7 and 25 offspring per birth, after 8-10 months of gestation.

They are critically endangered. This specie is very effected by commercial fishing, especially by trawlers.