Revised 14 Nov. 2022
PDF version (with illustrations)
Centroscymnus Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello 1864 centro-, from kéntron (Gr. κέντρον), prickle or sharp point, referring to spines on both dorsal fins; scymnus (Gr. σκύμνος), a young animal, a cub or whelp, historically applied to dogfishes and other small sharks
Centroscymnus coelolepis Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello 1864 coelo- from koí̄los (Gr. κοῖλος), hollow; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to its concave skin denticles
Centroscymnus owstonii Garman 1906 in honor of Alan Owston (1853‒ 1915), English businessman, yachtsman, and collector of Asian wildlife, who obtained holotype
Centroselachus Garman 1913 centro-, from kéntron (Gr. κέντρον), prickle or sharp point, referring to spines on both dorsal fins; sélachos (Gr. σέλαχος), a cartilaginous fish (i.e., shark or ray)
Centroselachus crepidater (Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello 1864) crepida (L.), low shoe (e.g., slipper); ater (L.), black, transliteration of Portuguese vernacular sapata preta, black shoe, allusion not explained, possibly referring to superficial resemblance to a black velvet slipper [see also Deania calceus, Centrophoridae]
Scymnodalatias Garrick 1956 scymno-, referring to previous placement in Scymnodon; dalatias, referring to lack of dorsal spines like most sharks in the family Dalatiidae (sometimes included within Somniosidae)
Scymnodalatias albicauda Taniuchi & Garrick 1986 albus (L.), white; cauda (L.), tail, referring to white markings on caudal fin
Scymnodalatias garricki Kukuev & Konovalenko 1988 in honor of J.A.F. (Jack) Garrick (1928–2018), New Zealand shark biologist, who proposed Scymnodalatias in 1956 [senior author’s name also seen as Kukuyev]
Scymnodalatias oligodon Kukuev & Konovalenko 1988 olígos (Gr. ὀλίγος), few or scanty; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to fewer teeth in upper jaw compared with congeners
Scymnodalatias sherwoodi (Archey 1921) in honor of C. W. Sherwood, who discovered the shark washed up on a beach in Canterbury, New Zealand, and presented it to the local museum
Scymnodon Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello 1864 scymnus (Gr. σκύμνος), a young animal, a cub or whelp, historically applied to dogfishes and other small sharks; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to large, triangular cutting teeth on lower jaw of S. ringens
Scymnodon ichiharai Yano & Tanaka 1984 in honor of marine biologist (specializing in whales) Tadayoshi Ichihara (d. 1981), Tokai University (Tokyo, Japan), who suggested that the authors study this shark
Scymnodon macracanthus (Regan 1906) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; acanthus (L.), from ákantha (Gr. ἄκανθα), thorn, referring to stout, prominent dorsal-fin spines
Scymnodon ringens Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello 1864 Latin for gaping, referring to its large, open mouth (“ore amplo, hiante”)
Somniosus Lesueur 1818 Latin for sleepy, reflecting Lesueur’s surmise that these sharks are slow or sluggish because of their relatively small fins (hence the name sleeper sharks)
Subgenus Somniosus
Somniosus antarcticus Whitley 1939 –icus (L.), belonging to: the Antarctic (Whitley presumed this to be the first shark recorded from there)
Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider 1801) small-headed, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its short, rounded snout compared with other sharks then included in the catch-all genus Squalus
Somniosus pacificus Bigelow & Schroeder 1944 –icus (L.), belonging to: the Pacific Ocean (specifically, the North Pacific), where it occurs (also in Arctic Ocean)
Subgenus Rhinoscymnus Gill 1865 rhino-, etymology not explained, perhaps rhinós (Gr. ῥινός), genitive of rhís (ῥίς), nose, referring to short, rounded snout of S. rostratus; scymnus (Gr. σκύμνος), a young animal, a cub or whelp, historically applied to dogfishes and other small sharks
Somniosus cheni Hsu, Lin & Joung 2020 in honor of Wen-Jong Chen, Taitung Xin Gang District Fisherman’s Association, for contributions of chondrichthyan fish samples and research assistance with Taiwan and international research for over 30 years
Somniosus longus (Tanaka 1912) Latin for long, perhaps referring to what Tanaka described as its “oblong” shape
Somniosus rostratus (Risso 1827) Latin for beaked, referring to its elongated rostrum
Zameus Jordan & Fowler 1903 zame, Japanese for shark (at the time, Z. squamulosus was known only from Japan)
Zameus squamulosus (Günther 1877) Günther’s Neo-Latin for covered or beset with small scales (squamosus in classical Latin), “so minute as to give a velvety appearance to the skin”