Bramble Sharks

Large (3-4 m), wide-ranging, deepwater sharks in cold-temperate to tropical seas. Circumglobal distribution on continental and insular shelves and slopes from 11 to 900 m, on or near the bottom. Short-nosed, cylindrical sharks with no anal fin. Two very small, spineless, posterior dorsal fins, the first behind the pelvic origins. Skin covered with coarse denticles or enlarged thorns. They feed on a variety of benthic and neritic fishes, including other sharks, ling, hake, flatfishes, lingcod, lizardfishes, rockfishes, topsmelt, herring, and elephantfishes, as well as crabs, octopuses and squids. They are thought to suck in their prey by suddenly expanding their mouths and pharynxes when in range. They are ovoviviparous and lack a yolksac placenta.