First documented record of neonate angular roughshark Oxynotus centrina from the eastern Adriatic Sea

Abstract

Many biological aspects of deep-water sharks are poorly known due to their rarity and difficulties in conducting detailed research on them. The angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina) is a rare species, critically endangered in the Mediterranean Sea, of which records are scarce across this region. Here we present a record of a female neonate O. centrina from the south-eastern Adriatic Sea, caught by a Montenegrin commercial trawler. Scientific observers were present on-board and collected the specimen, which was subsequently analysed in the laboratory. The specimen was 225 mm long (TL), weighed 59.6 g and had an unhealed umbilical scar. To date, records of this species in the Adriatic Sea have comprised of both adult and older juvenile individuals, but no records of neonates were found in the published literature. In this work, the basic biological observations of the specimen are reported.