Revised 7 Nov. 2024
PDF version (illustrated)
Squatina Duméril 1805 from squatum, name for angel sharks dating to Pliny the Elder, Latin synonym of the Greek rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhinos (ῥινός), skin or hide of a beast, or from rhínē (ῥίνη), rasp, both apparently alluding to a shark’s rough skin; presumably tautonymous with Squalus squatina Linnaeus 1758 (no species mentioned)
Squatina aculeata Cuvier 1829 Latin for sharp-pointed, referring to large thorns on head and along back
Squatina africana Regan 1908 ana– (L.), belonging to: Africa, referring to distribution from South Africa to Mozambique, Tanzania and Madagascar
Squatina albipunctata Last & White 2008 albus (L.), white; punctata (L.), spotted, referring to distinctive white-spotted color pattern
Squatina argentina (Marini 1930) presumably named for Argentina, described from off the coast of Buenos Aires (the province, not the city)
Squatina armata (Philippi 1887) Latin for armed with a weapon, referring to heavy thorns on snout and between eyes, large hooked thorns on back, and enlarged thorns on leading edge of pectoral fins
Squatina australis Regan 1906 Latin for southern, referring to distribution along coast of southern Australia
Squatina caillieti Walsh, Ebert & Compagno 2011 in honor of American marine-fish ecologist Gregor Cailliet (b. 1943₎, Moss Marine Landing Laboratories, California State University, for his contributions to ichthyology, especially chondrichthyan age and growth
Squatina californica Ayres 1859 –ica (L.), belonging to: California (USA), referring to type locality in San Francisco Bay
Squatina david Acero P., Tavera, Anguila & Hernández 2016 in honor of the first author’s son David (pronounced dahveed), who passed away 7 March 2011 [a noun in apposition, without the genitive “i”]
Squatina dumeril Lesueur 1818 in honor of French zoologist André Marie Constant Duméril (1774–1860) “in testimony of [Lesueur’s] remembrance and esteem” (not in honor of Duméril’s equally famous zoologist son Auguste, born in 1812) [presumably a noun in apposition, without the genitive “i”]
Squatina formosa Shen & Ting 1972 named for Formosa (Taiwan), type locality
Squatina guggenheim Marini 1936 in honor of the Guggenheim Institución (presumably the present-day John Simon Guggenheim Foundation), which apparently funded the “study trip” (translation) that led to the description of this species [presumably a noun in apposition without the genitive “i”]
Squatina japonica Bleeker 1858 –ica (L.), belonging to: Japan, referring to Nagasaki, type locality
Squatina leae Weigmann, Vaz, Akhilesh, Leeney & Naylor 2023 in memory of Lea-Marie Cordt, late sister of the first author’s fiancée
Squatina legnota Last & White 2008 Greek for “with a colored border,” referring to the dark anterior edges of its pectoral and pelvic fins
Squatina mapama Long, Ebert, Tavera, Acero P. & Robertson 2021 named for MAPAMA, the Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish governmental organization that operates the research vessel Miguel Oliver, for their support of the research cruises to Central and South America that facilitated the capture of this shark, and other new species of deepwater fishes on both sides of the Central American isthmus
Squatina nebulosa Regan 1906 Latin for cloudy or dark, referring to its brown-black marbled coloration
Squatina occulta Vooren & da Silva 1991 Latin for hidden or concealed, referring to its identity having remained hidden among a group of morphologically similar sympatric species
Squatina oculata Bonaparte 1840 Latin for eyed or having eyes, referring to the symmetrical ocelli seen on some specimens
Squatina pseudocellata Last & White 2008 pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false; ocellata (L.), having little eyes (ocelli), referring to indistinct ocellate markings on pectoral fins
Squatina squatina (Linnaeus 1758) from squatum, name for angel sharks dating to Pliny the Elder, Latin synonym of the Greek rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhinos (Gr. ῥινός), skin or hide of a beast, or from rhínē (Gr. ῥίνη), rasp, both apparently alluding to a shark’s rough skin
Squatina tergocellata McCulloch 1914 tergum (L.), back; ocellata (L.), having little eyes (ocelli), referring to dark-edged and dark-spotted ocelli on dorsal surface
Squatina tergocellatoides Chen 1963 –oides, Latinized suffix adopted from eídos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: described as “closely allied” to S. tergocellata but with a different color pattern, much longer tail, more numerous snout tubercles, and no medial series of dorsal tubercles
Squatina varii Vaz & Carvalho 2018 in honor of Richard P. Vari (1949– 2016), National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C., USA), for his “outstanding” contributions to Neotropical ichthyology