Quagga Catshark Halaelurus quagga

Abstract

The Quagga Catshark (Halaelurus quagga) is a poorly-known catshark recorded from very few specimens. It has a fragmented known distribution occurring off southwestern India, and around the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen). This small shark (reaching ~37 cm total length) occurs at depths of 54-300 m, but appears to be a mostly deep-water species. The development of intense deep-sea bottom trawl fishing off southwestern India where the species is most likely to be taken as bycatch is a concern. Its small size means that it would be discarded at sea, but survivorship would be low. There are currently no deep-sea fishing activities around the Socotra Archipelago. Declines off southwestern India are suspected, but the extent to which fishing is affecting the species there is not known. Despite some concern, the species is assessed as Data Deficient, with a urgent need to assess bycatch rates in the Indian deep-sea shrimp trawl fishery.