User:Jersey gal202/Sawback angelshark

= Sawback Angelshark = The sawback angelshark (Squatina aculeata) is an angelshark of the family Squatinidae

(Added a photo of the angel shark to the wikipedia page)

Measurements
ADDED: Their size at birth ranges from 30-35cm. As adults, male measurements range from 137-143cm, while female's range from 120-122cm.

Appearance
Color: Sawback Angelsharks are a dull grey to a light brown on back that has scarcely scattered with small irregular white spots and also with regular small dark brownish spots. No ocelli. Obtains dark blotches on head, back, the fin bases and tail. Body: Obtains large thorns atop its head in a row down its back. Has concave between eye, eye spiracle distance <1.5 x eye length. Has heavily fringed nasal barbels and including anterior nasal flaps.

Distribution and range
OLD: Eastern Atlantic: western Mediterranean, Morocco, Senegal, Guinea to Nigeria, then Gabon to Angola. 43°N - 19°S, 18°W - 30°E.

EDITED: The range of the Sawback Angelshark continues to decrease as their population declines. They range along the Eastern Atlantic in Senegal, Gambia, and Sierra Leone. They also inhabit the Southern Mediterranean coastline in Algeria to the eastern basin, and along the northern coast from Turkey possibly to Albania, although their presence is unknown further east. Its presence is unknown in Algeria, Sardinia, Malta, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, southern Cyprus, Crete, ad Western Mainland Greece.

Climate and habitat
Subtropical; offshore species, outer continental shelf and upper slope, demersal, marine. Usually found on muddy bottoms. 30–500 m (98–1,640 ft) down.

Behavior
As with other angelsharks, the sawback angelshark is a bottom-dweller that tries to camouflage at the bottom of the ocean in order to ambush and capture its prey.

(EDITED)Feeding
Diet: feeds on small sharks, bony fishes, cuttlefish, and crustaceans.

ADDED: Angelsharks are ambush predators, meaning they lie on the ocean floor and wait for their prey to pass by. They feed on small sharks, bony fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans.

(ADDED)Reproduction
Angelsharks reproduction is ovoviviparous. This means the young develop inside the mother as eggs until they are ready to hatch. Females produce live young, and their litter size ranges from 8 to 12 pups.

Status
IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered. Added to endangered species list in 2007 due to overexploitation. ADDED: One major source of their decline has been contamination in the North-Eastern Mediterranean. Due to agricultural, industrial and urban wastes, the Mediterranean has seen an untick in the amount of toxic heavy metals. The metals most present are Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), and Mercury (Hg). These metals have been found in dangerous quantities in Angelsharks gills, liver and muscle tissues.

Threat to humans
The Sawback Angelshark is a harmless species, but may be dangerous to humans if provoked or their habitat is disturbed.

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