Leafscale Gulper Shark
Squalus squamosus Bonnaterre, 1788: 12. Holotype: MNHN A-7829 (head only). Type locality: no locality stated (probably eastern North Atlantic).
Local synonymy: Centroscymnus fuscus: Gilchrist & von Bonde, 1924: 2 (original description, off St. Helena Bay, 32°S, l 6°E, west coast of South Africa, holotype lost); Barnard, 1925: 51; Smith 1949a: 58; Smith, 1965: 58. Lepidorhinus squamosus: Smith, 1967b: 119; Penrith, 1969: 64. Encheiridiodon hendersoni Smith, 1967b: 129, pls. 24–27 (original description,Algoa Bay, South Africa, holotype SAIAB [formerly RUSI] 663). Centrophorus squamosus: Hulley, 1971: 265, fig. 1; Bass et al., 1976: 28, fig. 19; Compagno, 1984a: 43, fig.; Bass et al., 1986: 51, fig. 5.4; Compagno et al., 1989: 24, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 55; Ebert et al., 1992: 602; Compagno, 1999: 114; Compagno et al., 2005: 86, fig., pl. 4; Ebert, 2013: 68, fig. 77; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 105, fig., pl. 6; Ebert & Mostarda, 2013: 27, fig.; Ebert, 2015: 64, fig. 68; Ebert & Mostarda, 2015: 21, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144; Compagno, 2016: 1173; Weigmann, 2016: 890.
South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 663 [Holotype: Encheiridiodon hendersoni]. SAIAB 26282, SAIAB 99355, SAIAB 99356, SAIAB 99357, SAIAB 99358, SAIAB 99359, SAIAB 99361, SAIAB 99362, SAIAB 99363, SAIAB 99364, SAM 24029, SAM 17161.
South Africa distribution: The Orange River (NC) to the northern KZN border with Mozambique.
Remarks: Smith (1967b), based on a dead specimen collected by the spearfisher in 3–4 m depth, described a new genus and species of gulper shark Encheiridiodon hendersoni, but the specimen is actually a C. squamosus. Hulley (1971) tentatively synonymized Centroscymnus fuscus with this species, but details of its original description suggest it may have been C. coelolepis. Unfortunately, the holotype of C. fuscus is lost.
Conservation status: EN (2020).