Squatina squatina

The angelshark was originally described by the Swedish natural historian Carl Linnaeus, known as the "father of taxonomy", in the 1758 tenth edition of Systema Naturae as Squalus squatina. He did not designate a type specimen. The word squatina is the name for skate in Latin; it was made the genus name for all angel sharks by the French zoologist André Duméril in 1806. Other common names used for this species include angel, angel fiddle fish, angel puffy fish, angel ray, angelfish, escat jueu, fiddle fish, monk, and monkfish. Stelbrink and colleagues (2010) conducted a phylogenetic study based on mitochondrial DNA, and found that the sister species of the angelshark is the sawback angelshark (S. aculeata). The two species formed a clade with a number of Asian angelshark species. ==Description==

One of the largest members of its family, female angelsharks can attain a length of and males ; the maximum reported weight is . The coloration is gray to reddish or greenish brown above, with many small black and white spots, and white below. Juveniles are more ornately patterned than adults, with pale lines and darker blotches. The dorsal fins have a darker leading margin and lighter trailing margin. Some individuals have a white spot on the back of the "neck". ==Distribution and habitat==

The angelshark occurs in the temperate waters of the northeastern Atlantic, from southern Norway and Sweden to the Western Sahara and the Canary Islands, including around Ireland and Britain and in the Mediterranean. According to the IUCN, it is possible that it has been extirpated from the North Sea. It remains extant around the Canary Islands, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Palestine, Turkey, northern Cyprus, eastern Greece (the Aegean Sea), the Adriatic Sea of eastern Italy, Sicily, Malta, Corsica, Ireland and western Britain/Wales . Its modern presence in parts of the Mediterranean is unknown, such as around Madeira, the Azores, Morocco, Egypt, continental Spain and France, Crete, Syria, Sardinia, western Greece and western Italy. This benthic shark inhabits the continental shelf, preferring soft substrates such as mud or sand, and can be found from near the coast to a depth of . It sometimes enters brackish environments. Northern angelshark subpopulations migrate northward in summer and southward in winter. ==Biology and ecology==

During daytime, the angelshark usually lies motionless on the sea floor, buried under a layer of sediment with only its eyes showing. At night, it becomes more active, and may sometimes be seen swimming above the bottom. The angelshark is an ambush predator that feeds mainly on bottom-dwelling bony fishes, especially flatfishes, though it also preys on skates and invertebrates. Prey reported taken include the hake Merluccius merluccius, the bream Pagellus erythrinus, grunts in the genus Pomadasys, the flatfishes Bothus spp., Citharus linguatula, and Solea solea, the squid Loligo vulgaris, the cuttlefishes Sepia officinalis and Sepiola spp., and the crabs Medorippe lanata, Geryon trispinosus, Dromia personata, Goneplax rhomboides, Liocarcinus corrugatus, and Atelecyclus rotundatus. The stomachs of some examined specimens have also contained seagrass or birds (in one case an entire cormorant). Squatina squatina is preyed upon species such as Bathytoshia centroura (roughtail stingray) and possibly Squatina dumerili (Sand devil), but for S. dumerili it may only be juveniles. The first reported incident of S. dumerili was in 2024 off the coast of Los Terresitas Beach, Tenerife, Canary islands. It saw a Roughtail stingray attempt to predate on a juvenile S. squatina but failing to do so only for the S. squatina individual to be captured by the Sand devil. Known parasites of this species include the tapeworms Grillotia smaris-gora, G. angeli, and Christianella minuta, the fluke Pseudocotyle squatinae, the monogenean Leptocotyle minor, and the isopod Aega rosacea. ==Human interactions==

The angelshark is generally not aggressive towards humans, though it can deliver a severe bite if disturbed. (Squatina squatina) is in critical danger of extinction. In the Canary Islands we can find one of the last populations of this species. Humans have used the angelshark for thousands of years. Ancient Greek authors, such as Diphilus and Mnesitheus, described its meat as "light" and "easily digestible", and Pliny the Elder noted in his Naturalis Historia (77–79 AD) that its rough skin was valued by craftsmen for polishing wood and ivory. Aristotle recorded elements of its natural history, including that it bore live young, and correctly recognized that it was a shark despite its resemblance to rays and skates. The use of this species for food has continued into modern times; it is sold fresh or dried and salted, often under the name "monkfish" (which also refers to the goosefishes of the genus Lophius). The angelshark may also be a source for shark liver oil and fishmeal. Conservation status Sources from the 19th and early 20th centuries indicate that the angelshark was once abundant all around the coasts of Western Europe. Yarrell (1836), Day (1880–04), and Garstang (1903) all noted that the angelshark was common around the Britain and Ireland, and Rey (1928) recorded that this species was common around the Iberian Peninsula and in the Mediterranean. However, from the latter half of the 20th century onwards, the angelshark has come under intense pressure from commercial fisheries operating across much of its range. Due to its benthic, near-shore habits, individuals of all ages are susceptible to incidental capture by bottom trawls, trammel nets, and bottom longlines; the low reproductive rate of this shark limits its capacity to withstand population depletion. Healthy subpopulations of angelsharks are thought to still persist in areas off North Africa and around the Canary Islands, though a more thorough assessment is urgently needed. As a result of these steep population declines and the ongoing threat from demersal fisheries, the IUCN has assessed the angelshark as Critically Endangered. An assessment of the angelshark population by the IUCN showed a decrease in population of over 90%. The assessment also showed that there was no signs of recovery of the population. It was listed on Annex III of the 1976 Barcelona Convention, which aims to limit pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2012 it was moved to Annex II, making it illegal to catch and keep in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (if caught, it must be released). This species is protected within three marine reserves in the Balearic Islands, although it has not been reported from this area since the mid-1990s. Since 2010, it has been illegal to keep angelsharks caught in waters of the European Union (if caught, it must be released). The United Kingdom and Belgium have pushed, unsuccessfully, for this species to be listed on the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic Priority List of Threatened and Endangered Species. In 2019, a population of angelsharks was discovered off the coast of Wales, indicating that the species had begun a potential return to the region. ==References==