Name: Horn shark, California hornshark
Scientific Name: Heterodontus francisci (Girard, 1855)
Family: Heterodontidae
Group: Sharks, rays and chimaeras
Class: Fish
Size: 51-100 cm.
This shark owes its name to the large spines it has on both of its dorsal fins. It is a solitary animal, which feeds at night and rests during the day among kelp beds or in rocky caves. Notoriously slow, it prefers to move on the bottom supported by its pectoral fins and swims only sporadically - usually to pursue and bite divers who disturb it... The eggs are protected by a spiral-shaped capsule, which the females wedge into cracks and holes with their mouths. The juveniles are born 9 months later, measuring 15 cm and the same as adults.
Photo by:
Mark Conlin (www.sdnhm.org)
Temperate Pacific
