Shark Report: Prickly Shark | The Beachside Resident

By: Bloody Bill

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Echinorhinus cookei, the Prickly Shark

By Bloody Bill

So… How can I put my feelings about the past year into words? Before I tackle the shark issue, I’d like speak my peace for a moment. 2008 was a tough year for many of us; I myself to a break from things for a while. Sometimes not easy being from the beach; there are friends who’ve passed away, friends who’ve been incarcerated, and friends who need our help. We also have friends who try to pull us together whether it be through phone calls, a certain beachside publication, or with the beer they buy us if we happen to see them out. Ya’ll know who you are. I’d just like to thank all of you who’ve been there throughout the years and have kept many of us sane and out of trouble. We are beachside residents, and we know what it means to call each other friends. So to all of you: the Slater family, the staff of the Resident, the crew at Taco City, Velez, the Super family, Rhett and the boys at Rusty’s, Tim Hawk and the kids, PJ and Gordo and Summer — I love you all.

Now on to the sharks. This is a shark I don’t really know much about. Summer suggested it, so I’ll give her due props. This is one crazy-looking shark, and I’ll do my best to fill in its background. I give you Echinorhinus cookei, the prickly shark.

I’ve encountered this shark firsthand, but it’s one that has intrigued me for some time.
The prickly shark is a medium-sized species, with a maximum reported size of about 6 feet. It gets its name from the bramble-like spikes found all over its skin. It’s a deep water shark, usually inhabiting the water column to depths of 1,100 meters. They often are a brownish to grayish-bronze above, and a creamy white below. Indicative characteristics of this shark include a dorsal fin that is set very far back on its body and thorn-like denticles similar to those of roses covering its entire body. They have a wide, stocky snout and body as well as large jaws.

This shark is considered a truly rare species, and usually only found in the deep water open oceans. It dwells in Pacific waters near the north coast of Australia and Japan, and is seldom found off the coast of California. In 1994, however, a specimen was actually retrieved in California waters and an attempt was made to keep it in the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It remained for about a week before being released back into its habitat. Food habits suggest that the prickly shark feeds on many species of deep ocean fishes such as squid, octopi, deep water shrimp, and other sharks. The prickly shark is not a threat to humans.

These sharks are considered of miniscule importance to both commercial and recreational fisheries alike, and are rarely caught in open ocean longlines throughout the world. They are not currently listed by the IUCN, but I believe that this is due to a lack of accurate information by U.S. fisheries.

Like all sharks, this species is an integral part of our ecosystem and deserves our continued respect, conservation, and admiration.

Mahalo,

Bloody Bill

For more information visit:

www.fishbase.org