1. Family Pseudotriakidae Gollumsharks and False Catsharks
Sara McCutcheon

2. General Characteristics
Small to large sharks
No barbels or nasoral grooves
Labial furrows short
Elongated eyes “squinty” appearance
Deep groove in front of eyes

3. Gollum spp. 3 species

4. Pseudotriakis microdon

5. Pygmy False Catshark New Genus and species

6. Distribution and Habitat
Continental and insular slopes and ocassionaly over shelves
Benthic and benthopelagic
Bathydemersal
No recognized fossil record for this family

7. Gollum spp 129-724m; 300-600m common Bathydemersal 10˚C
G. attenuatus New Zealand
G. species A – Philippines
G. species B – New Caledonia

8. Pseudotriakis microdon
Found between m
Wide-ranging
Not yet found in the S Atlantic or E Pacific

9. False Pygmy Catshark Arabian Sea and Maldives (NW Indian Ocean)
Down to 1120m

10. Biology First documented report of non-lamnid oophagy
Matrophagy, oophagy, and uterine milk
Aplacental vivaparity
Embryos feed on yolk sac, ova, and uterine milk
Consumed ova replenish external yolk sac
Low fecundity of 2 pups/litter
Ratio of males to females 1:1
Pseudotriakis microdon
20,000 ova (9mm) found in a 280cm female
Unknown gestation time; thought to be at least one year, possibly 2-3 years

11. Diet
Feed on sharks, teleosts, gastropods, cephalopods, crustaceans, and other invertebrates
Most important are fish and crustaceans
Feed at or near the bottom
P. microdon in Pacific vs Atlantic
Pacific = sharks, teleosts, squid, octopi
Atlantic = human garbage, potatoes, pear, plastic bag, and soda can

12. Status No interest by fisheries
Caught as bycatch from bottom trawl longlines
Thought to have a low resilience; minimum population doubling time of 14 years
No information of population size or status
Considered harmless to humans
Gollum spp. – species of least concern
Pseudotriakis microdon - data deficient
Pygmy False Catshark – Not evaluated

13. Bibliography
Carrier, J.C., J.A. Musick, and M.R. Heithaus Biology of Sharks and their Relatives. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 49 and 71.
Castro, J.I The Sharks of North American Waters. Texas A&M University Press, TX. p. 113.
Compagno, LJV FAO Species Catalogue, Vol 4. Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 – Carcharhinigormes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125 (4/2):
Compagno, L, M. Dando, and S. Fowler Sharks of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. pp
Francis, M.P Gollum attenuatus. In: IUCN IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 21 October 2007.
Kyne, P.M., Kazunari Yano & White, W.T Pseudotriakis microdon. In: IUCN IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 21 October 2007.
Nelson, J.S Fishes of the World, 4th ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, NJ. p. 61.