Kitefin Shark - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The kitefin shark was originally described as Squalus licha by French naturalist Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre, in his 1788 Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois regnes de la nature; the type specimen from "Le cap Breton" has since been lost. This species was later placed in its own genus, Dalatias, which came from the synonymy of Constantine Rafinesque's 1810 Dalatias sparophagus with S. licha. However, some authorities dispute this on the grounds that D. sparophagus is a nomen dubium, and prefer to use the next available genus name Scymnorhinus. The genus name Dalatias is derived from the Greek dalos or dalou, meaning "torch". The specific epithet licha comes from la liche, the French name for this shark. Additional common names used for the kitefin shark include black shark and darkie Charlie.