Name: Slender Weasel Shark
Local name: Yaryyor
Scientific name: Paragaleus randalli
Classification: Class: cartilaginous fishes; Order: ground sharks; Family: weasel sharks (Hemigaleidae)
Synonym: Hypogaleus hyugaensis
Size: This is a small shark, which usually reaches 60 – 70 cm, with a maximum total length of 80 cm.
Habitat:
The Slender Weasel Shark lives in shallow inshore waters of less than 20 m depth, where it feeds on small fishes and invertebrates. It is live-bearing (viviparous) and harmless to humans.
Distribution:
The species is known from the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and coastal areas of India and Sri Lanka.
Conservation status:
According to the IUCN Red List, the Slender Weasel Shark is Near Threatened (NT). It is caught by gill nets and used for human consumption and fishmeal.
Description:
The species is characterized by a narrow snout, a long mouth, with lower anterior teeth mostly oblique-cusped and well-developed distal cusplets. It is grey to grey-brown on the dorsal surface and whitish ventrally with inconspicuous white-edged fins and a pair of narrow dark lines on the underside of its snout. Apices of dorsal fins are sometimes dark or blackish but without abrupt black tips.
