Description
The Atlantic sawtail catshark reaches a maximum known length of 45 cm (18 in). Slender and firm-bodied, it has a slightly flattened head with a moderately long, flattened snout. The head is proportionately shorter and narrower, and the nostrils relatively farther from the snout tip, than in G. melastomus. The nostrils are partially covered by triangular flaps of skin on their anterior rims. The eyes are horizontally oval and equipped with rudimentary nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids). There is a slight ridge below each eye, and a minute spiracle behind. The large mouth is wide and curved, with rather long furrows around the corners. The small teeth each have a narrow central cusp flanked by multiple smaller cusplets on either side. There are five pairs of gill slits.
The first dorsal fin is positioned over the latter portion of the pelvic fin bases, while the second is positioned over the latter portion of the anal fin base. Both dorsal fins are angular and similar in size. The pectoral fins are large and wide, with rounded corners. The short, low pelvic fins are placed close to the anal fin, which is elongated and angular. The caudal peduncle is compressed from side to side; its height is greater than in G. melastomus, exceeding 4.5% of the total length. The caudal fin is low, with a small lower lobe and a ventral notch near the tip of the upper lobe. The skin is covered by dermal denticles, each with a leaf-shaped crown bearing a median ridge and three marginal teeth. A prominent crest of enlarged denticles runs along the front portion of the dorsal caudal fin margin. The coloration is gray above and pale below, with a series of dark gray saddles or blotches along the back and tail. The dorsal fins are dusky at the base and lighten towards the trailing margins. The trailing margin of the caudal fin is black, as is the interior of the mouth. The inside of the furrows at the corners of the mouth are dark, in contrast to G. melastomus where they are light.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Sawtail Catshark
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“God damnit, why must all those journalists be such sticklers for detail? Why, they’d hold you to an accurate description of the first time you ever made love, expecting you to remember the color of the room and the shape of the windows.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Everything to which we concede existence is a posit from the standpoint of a description of the theory-building process, and simultaneously real from the standpoint of the theory that is being built. Nor let us look down on the standpoint of the theory as make-believe; for we can never do better than occupy the standpoint of some theory or other, the best we can muster at the time.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate? The answer, of course, is that the relation to the ultimate is not the same in each case. The philosophical relation is in principle a detached description of the basic structure in which the ultimate manifests itself. The relation of faith is in principle an involved expression of concern about the meaning of the ultimate for the faithful.”
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965)