Northerly range expansion and first confirmed records of the smalltooth sand tiger shark, Odontaspis ferox, in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Abstract

Three Odontaspis ferox (confirmed by mtDNA barcoding) were found in the English Channel and Celtic Sea in 2023 at Lepe, UK (50.7846, ‐1.3508), Kilmore Quay, Ireland (52.1714, ‐6.5937) and Lyme Bay, UK (50.6448, ‐2.9302). These are the first records of O. ferox in either country, and extend the species’ range by over three degrees of latitude, to >52°N. They were ~275 (female), 433 (female), and 293 cm (male) total length, respectively. These continue a series of new records, possibly indicative of a climate change induced shift in the species’ range.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Centralized red muscle in Odontaspis ferox and the prevalence of regional endothermy in sharks

“…This individual was gutted and sectioned into 11 full transverse cross sections of the body between the 4th gill slit and the precaudal pit (electronic supplementary material, figure S1A, C). See [36] for full details of stranded specimens. A modified phylogram from Compagno [22] which matches recent molecular analysis at the genus level was reconstructed in Procreate software (version 5.2; Savage Interactive Pty Ltd) to include all extant Lamniformes and the extinct Otodus megalodon (figure 1c).…”

“…This individual was gutted and sectioned into 11 full transverse cross sections of the body between the 4th gill slit and the precaudal pit (electronic supplementary material, figure S1A, C). See [36] for full details of stranded specimens.…”