Apr 29 2012
Small-spotted catshark with egg-cases
The small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) is not a common catch in Norwegian waters, but once in a while a shark get caught in a fishing net.
The pictures on this page show a small-spotted catshark caught in the southern part of Norway (near Egersund). The fisherman (Øivind Mong) was a bit surprised when he found eggs in the shark. Several egg-cases were found and each egg has “strings” attached to each corner (see picture below). These strings help the egg-casees to “hold on” to something on the bottom. It takes 5-11 months for the embryos to develop.
Thanks to Øivind Mong for the pictures.
Cool, I also got one today outside Egersund at 45 meters depth, bait was herring. I was surprised that it was still alive after more than 2 hours in the boat. The catshark was then released.
its a lesser spotted dogfish, found in there thousands in brittish warters and pain in the arse if you are trawling and come into a large bank of them. spent many hours pulling these out of the gear. bad times lol
Why were they so surprised that this fish was carrying eggs. Was it just the particular time of year or just that this fish is so rare in Norway’s waters.
Small-spotted catshark is a rare shark in Norwegian waters – and it is therefore also unusual to catch a shark with eggs.