Its dorsal fins are equipped with poisonous spines.
Identity card
Identity card
- Scientific name:
- Heterodontus francisci
- Family:
- Heterodontidae
- Class:
- Actinopterygii
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Year of description:
- Girard 1855
- IUCN Status:
- Data Deficient
- CITES-status:
Not Evaluated
- Distribution:
-
Temperate and subtropical seas of the Eastern Pacific. Coasts from California to Mexico. Ecuador and Peru.
- Habitat:
-
It lives on the rocky or sandy seabed, in kelp forests, between the surface and 150 metres deep.
- Size:
Adults grow to between 97 cm and 1.20 metres and weigh around 10 kg.
- Diet:
-
The horn shark feeds at night on shellfish, sea urchins, crustaceans and sometimes small fish.
- Longevity:
12 years
- Conservation program:
Nausicaá participates in programs concerning the horned shark of a less involving level called ESB-European StudBook.