Family Hexanchidae - Cow sharks
Order : Hexanchiformes Hexanchidae
Class : Elasmobranchii
No. in FishBase : Genera : 3 | Species : 5 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
Environment : Fresh : No | Brackish : Yes | Marine : Yes
Division : Marine
Aquarium : none
First Fossil Record : upper   Jurassic     Ref. Berg, L.S. 1958
Remark : Distribution: Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Most species are deepwater inhabitants of the outer continental shelves and upper continental slopes down to at least 1875 m depth. Gill openings 6 in Hexanchus, 7 in Heptranchias and Notorynchus. Margin of first gill discontinuous across throat. Mouth subterminal with large, bladelike, comb-shaped teeth in lower jaw. One dorsal fin. Caudal fin with strong subterminal notch. Cow sharks are ovoviviparous and lack a yolk-sac placenta. They feed on relatively large marine organisms, including other sharks, rays, bony fish, crustacean and carrion. Species range in size from 140 to 480 cm. hexa- (gr.) = six
Etymology : Greek, exa = six + Greek, agchone = to strangle ( Ref. 45335).
Reproductive guild : bearers
Typical activity level :
Main Ref. : Compagno, L.J.V. 1984
Coordinator : Compagno, L.J.V. 1984
Deep Fin Classification :

Show species images | Show valid names | Nominal species list | Identification keys | CAS specimen photos | References

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948 ]
Glossary
[ e.g. oophagy ]


Species/Synonymy list for the family Hexanchidae as currently in FishBase

Important recommendation:

The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.

Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.

But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.

Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.

This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).

The list ordered as follows:

Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.

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Scientifc name Status Senior/Junior synonym Combination
Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788)
acceptedseniornew
Squalus griseus Bonnaterre, 1788
synonymseniororiginal
Monopterinus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788)
synonymseniornew
Notidanus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788)
synonymseniornew
Squalus vacca Bloch & Schneider, 1801
synonymjuniororiginal
Notidanus monge Risso, 1827
synonymjuniororiginal
Hexanchus corinus Jordan & Gilbert, 1880
synonymjuniororiginal
! Hexanchus corinum Jordan & Gilbert, 1880
synonymjuniororiginal
Notidanus vulgaris Pérez Canto, 1886
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
acceptedseniorchange in rank
synonymseniororiginal
Hexanchus griseus (non Bonnaterre, 1788)
misappliedmisappliednew
Notidanus griseus (non Bonnaterre, 1788)
misappliedmisappliednew
Hexanchus vitulus (non Springer & Waller, 1969)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Hexanchus vitulus Springer & Waller, 1969
acceptedseniororiginal
Hexanchus nakamurai (non Teng, 1962)
misappliedmisappliednew
Heptranchias perlo (Bonnaterre, 1788)
acceptedseniornew
Squalus perlo Bonnaterre, 1788
synonymseniororiginal
! Heptranchus perlo (Bonnaterre, 1788)
synonymseniornew
Squalus cinereus Gmelin, 1789
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptranchias cinereus (Gmelin, 1789)
synonymjuniornew
Notidanus cinereus (Gmelin, 1789)
synonymjuniornew
! Heptrancus angio Costa, 1857
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptranchias angio Costa, 1857
synonymjuniororiginal
ambiguousotheroriginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptranchias deani Jordan & Starks, 1901
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptranchias dakini Whitley, 1931
synonymjuniororiginal
Notorynchus cepedianus (Péron, 1807)
acceptedseniornew
Squalus cepedianus Péron, 1807
synonymseniororiginal
synonymseniornew
! Notorhynchus cepedianus (Péron, 1807)
synonymseniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniornew
synonymjuniornew
Notidanus indicus Agassiz, 1838
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptanchus indicus (Agassiz, 1838)
synonymjuniornew
Notorynchus indicus (Agassiz, 1838)
synonymjuniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
! Notorynchus maculatum Ayres, 1855
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptanchus pectorosus (Garman, 1884)
synonymjuniornew
Notorynchus pectorosus (Garman, 1884)
synonymjuniornew
! Heptrachias pectorosus Garman, 1884
synonymjuniororiginal
Notidanus ferox Pérez Canto, 1886
synonymjuniororiginal
ambiguousquestionableoriginal
Notidanus medinae Philippi, 1902
synonymjuniororiginal
Notidanus wolniczkyi Philippi, 1902
synonymjuniororiginal
Heptranchias spilotus Lahille, 1913
synonymjuniororiginal
Notorhynchus ocellatus Devincenzi, 1920
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
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