Bristly catshark

The bristly catshark is a small species among the shark family, and as the name suggests, it has lengthened, cat-like eyes on the side that help it to be easily distinguished. The long abdomen, rounded snout with a parabolic knoblike tip, and short wrinkle labial also differentiate it from other catsharks. Instead of having patterned appearance like most other catsharks do, the bristly catshark has no dark spots nor colored stripes. There are three more species of Halaelurus which share this characteristic: canescens, dawsoni, and lutarius, while the bristly catshark is usually in a pale brown or white color. Among these three species, bristly catsharks relate the H. lutarius the most. They share many similarities, except that bristly catsharks are a little smaller with larger eyes. Also, bristly catsharks were found to have papillae on the tongue, while the H. lutarius lack the presence of papillae. The bristly catsharks live in the deep sea and are restricted to India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Andaman Islands on the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope at 250–1262 m.

The diameter of the eggs ranges from 2-4 mm in females with functional but immature ovaries; 15–21 mm in females with well-developed ovaries.