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Hexanchus griseus

Mangō Paru

Bluntnose Sixgill Shark

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Image:	Adult (colour illustration)	10KB
Image:	Sideview, teeth & head details (b&w illust.)	98KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Bluntnose Sixgill Shark, Mud Shark, Sixgill Shark; French Requin Grisé

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Mangō Paru (RR AK), Mangō Vena ?species (MG), Mangō Kuravena (MK), Mangō Tātara [?sp] (MT), Palu Mangō (PK); COMMENT: Some informants consider this to be Mangō Vena, but Apii Temata has this name for a yet unseen shark (GM 3/2000).

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Circumglobal (65°N to 45°S) [incl. Fiji, Samoa, Cooks]

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. Rare. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, deepbottom

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Injurous bite - serious

KEY FEATURES: To 4.5m, stout, cylindrical body, with a blunt head. Characteristic features: 6 gill-slits, one Dorsal fin, and central teeth differ (upper have single long cusp, lower have 8-12 low sawtooth-like cusps). Lower jaw has 6 rows-per-side of comb-like or sawtooth-like teeth. Greyish with a dark upperside. Skin like coarse sandpaper.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+	P		?		+

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
+			P

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788)
SYNONYMS: Monopterinus griseus; Notidanus griseus; Squalus griseus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; CHONDRICHTHYES; Hexanchiformes; HEXANCHIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: deep-bottom handline specimen Dashwood (pers.comm. in Sims 88); specimen, 200m dropline off Matavera, Teina Murare, 3/2000, c.3m long, fins and teeth noted by Chip Boyle, ID Boyle/GM; specimen, 350m dropline, Apii Temata, 4/2000, 2m snout to Origin-of-Dorsal, ID GM (jaw preserved). Aitutaki: deep-bottom handline specimen Mead (pers.comm. in Sims 88). Tongareva: Deepsea-handline specimen 140kg (whole) T&P85. Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
p.13 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 1-08 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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