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• eye oval
• 1st dorsal fin over pelvic
• 2nd dorsal fin large
• gill slits: 5, 2 over pectoral
• anal fin large
• c: asymmetric, base no keel

CATSHARKS

This is the largest family of sharks, with 15 genera and almost 105 species. The group has successfully penetrated a wide range of habitats from tropical shallows to arctic waters and oceanic depths over 2000 m. Catsharks are particularly well represented in African and Australian seas. Of the 9 species in 6 genera that occur in or the tropical eastern Pacific, only the Swellshark occurs inshore in shallow habitats.

Catsharks are characterised by having the origin of the first dorsal behind the pelvic fins, rudimentary nictitating membranes, spiracles being present, and an intestine with a spiral valve; 5 gill slits, with the last 2 over the pectoral fin; small teeth that usually have 1 point; tail strongly asymmetrical with little of no lower lobe, and the tail base without keels on sides.

References

• Compagno, L.J.V., 1999., Checklist of living elasmobranchs. In Hamlett W.C. (ed.) Sharks, skates, and rays: the biology of elasmobranch fishes., The John Hopkins University Press:471-498.
• Compagno, L.J.V., 1984., Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Species Catalogue., FAO Fish. Synop. No 125, 4(2):251-655.
• Eschmeyer , W. N. , Herald , E. S. and Hamman, H., 1983., A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California. Peterson Field Guide Ser. 28., Houghton Mifflin:336pp.
• Findley, L.T., Hendrickx, M.E., Brusca, R.C., van der Heiden, A.M., Hastings, P.A., Torre, J., 2003., Diversidad de la Macrofauna Marina del Golfo de California, Mexico., CD-ROM versión 1.0. Projecto de la Macrofauna del Golfo .  Derechos reservados de los autores y Conservación Internacional.
• Fischer , W. , Krup , F. , Schneider , W. , Sommer , C. , Carpenter , K. E. and Niem, V. H., 1995., Guia FAO para la Identificacion de Especies de para los fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Volumen II. Vertebrados - Parte 1., FAO2:647-1200.
• Garman, S., 1880., New species of Selachians in the museum collection., Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard, 6:167-172.
• Gilbert, C.H., 1892., Scientific results of explorations by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer "Albatross." 22. Descriptions of thirty-four new species of fishes collected in 1888 and 1889, principally among the Santa Barbara Islands and in the Gulf of California., Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 14:539-566.
• Love, M.S., Mecklenburg, C.W., Mecklenburg, T.A., Thorsteinson, L.K., 2005., es of the West Coast and Alaska: a checklist of North Pacific and Artic Ocena species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border., U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, 288pp.
• Nelson, J.S., 1984., Fishes of the World (Third edition)., John Wiley and Sons:523pp.
• Pondella II, D.J., Gintert, B.E., Cobb, J.R., Allen, L.G., 2005., Biogeography of the nearshore rocky-reef fishes at the southern and Baja California islands., Journal of Biogeography, 32:187-201.
• Van der Heiden , A. M. and Findley, L. T., 1988., Lista de los peces marinos del sur de Sinaloa, México., Anales del Centro de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico, 15:209-224.