Prickly shark: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the prickly shark lives – recorded in 3 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Echinorhinus cookei
Group	Sharks
Status	Data deficient (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	3 countries
Continents	North America, Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Squaliformes
Family	Echinorhinidae

Where does the prickly shark live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the prickly shark in 3 countries and territories across North America and Oceania.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the prickly shark endangered?

The prickly shark’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Data deficient” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the prickly shark?

The prickly shark (Echinorhinus cookei) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Squaliformes and the family Echinorhinidae, genus Echinorhinus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the prickly shark

The prickly shark (Echinorhinus cookei) is one of the two species of sharks in the family Echinorhinidae (the other one is the bramble shark), found in the Pacific Ocean over continental and insular shelves and slopes, and in submarine canyons. Bottom-dwelling in nature, it generally inhabits cool waters 100–650 m (330–2,130 ft) deep, but it also frequently enters shallower water in areas such as Monterey Bay off California. This stocky, dark-colored shark grows up to 4.0 m (13.1 ft) long, with two small dorsal fins positioned far back on its body and no anal fin. It is characterized by a dense covering of thornlike dermal denticles, hence its common name.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Prickly shark (revision 1360184800), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q140379 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).