Swell shark: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the swell shark lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Cephaloscyllium ventriosum
Group	Sharks
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	North America
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Carcharhiniformes
Family	Scyliorhinidae

Where does the swell shark live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the swell shark in 1 country or territory across North America.

United States

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 swell shark endangered?

The swell shark’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the swell shark?

The swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Carcharhiniformes and the family Scyliorhinidae, genus Cephaloscyllium. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the swell shark

The swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) is a catshark in the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean from between central California to southern Mexico, with an additional population off the coast of Chile. They are known to have brown and white spots along with broad heads. As a defense, the swell shark is able to expand to approximately double its regular size by swallowing water. They depend on electrical signals to find prey, camouflaging in rocky crevices.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Swell shark (revision 1370818745), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2639496 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).