Poroderma africanum
Creators: name: Ebert, David A.
name: Wintner, Sabine P.
name: Kyne, Peter M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Elasmobranchii
Carcharhiniformes
Scyliorhinidae
Poroderma
Poroderma africanum

description: Poroderma africanum (Gmelin, 1789)
Pyjama Shark
Squalus africanus Gmelin, 1789: 1494. Types: No known types exist. Type locality: South Africa.
Local synonymy: Squalus africanus: Gmelin, 1789: 1494. Squalus vittatus: Walbaum, 1792: 516; Shaw in Shaw & Nodder, 1798: no page number, pl. 346 (in Garman, 1913: 70); Compagno, 1984b: 347, fig.; and Human, 2006a: 6). According to Human (2006a), this species was incorrectly attributed to Walbaum, 1792: 516, by Fowler, 1941: 40. However, it appears the name Squalus vittatus was already preoccupied (Walbaum, 1792). Scyllium africanum: Cuvier, 1816: 359; Smith, 1837: 85; M̹ller & Henle, 1841: 12, pl.; Smith, 1849: 9, fig. 1, pl. 25; Gray, 1851: 31; Duméril, 1853: 82; Duméril, 1865: 321; G̹nther, 1870: 405; Gilchrist, 1902: 103; Gilchrist, 1914: 111; Lampe, 1914: 209. Squalus striatus: Forster in Lichtenstein, 1844: 407 (in Garman, 1913: 70; Fowler, 1941: 40; Compagno, 1984b: 347; Human, 2006a: 6). Poroderma africanum: Fowler, 1908: 53; Garman, 1913: 170; Fowler, 1925: 189, fig. 1; von Bonde, 1948: 465, pls. 13–16; Smith, 1949a: 53, fig. 37, pl. 2; Smith, 1965: 53, fig. 37, pl. 2; Bass et al., 1975a: 28, fig. 16; Springer, 1979: 112; Compagno, 1984b: 346, fig.; Bass, 1986: 94, fig. 11.13, pl. 3; Compagno, 1988a: 15; Compagno et al., 1989: 48, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 119; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 67; Compagno et al., 2005: 242, fig., pl. 39; Human, 2006a: 6, fig. 1; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 370, fig., pl. 50; Mann, 2013: 185; NPOA, 2013: 47; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 147; Weigmann, 2016: 878. Scyliorhinus africanus: Regan, 1908b: 456; Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948b: 197. Scylliorhinus africanus: Thompson, 1914: 136; Gilchrist & Thompson, 1916: 270; Gilchrist, 1922b: 44; Barnard, 1925: 39; Barnard, 1927: 1013; von Bonde, 1933: 41; von Bonde, 1934: 15; Barnard, 1947: 16, pl. 3; Barnard, 1948: 342. Conoporoderma africanum: Smith & Smith, 1966: 25.
South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 2607, SAIAB 2869, SAIAB 6003, SAIAB 6278, SAIAB 7129, SAIAB 7130, SAIAB 7131, SAIAB 7132, SAIAB 7133, SAIAB 7825, SAIAB 11428, SAIAB 11959, SAIAB 12849, SAIAB 13129, SAIAB 13148, SAIAB 13149, SAIAB 16730, SAIAB 17034, SAIAB 19991, SAIAB 25343, SAIAB 25344, SAIAB 25345, SAIAB 26307, SAIAB 26477, SAIAB 26478, SAIAB 26479, SAIAB 26480, SAIAB 26481, SAIAB 26880, SAIAB 26885, SAIAB 27021, SAIAB 41531, SAIAB 41533, SAIAB 41540, SAIAB 48498, SAIAB 53687, SAIAB 55004, SAIAB 55512, SAIAB 99202, SAIAB 99203. SAM 28624, SAM 28633, SAM 29304, SAM 32571.
South African distribution: Endemic. Granger Bay, Table Bay (WC) to just north of East London (EC) (Human, 2006a). Records from outside South Africa are dubious and require confirmation.
Remarks: Human (2006a) provides a detailed discussion on the synonymy of this distinctive catshark. This species has been reported from Madagascar and Mauritius (Fricke, 1999a; Fricke et al., 2018), but it would seem implausible for a shallow, coastal species to cross such a great distance to reach either location. More likely these records were erroneous in their location as suggested by Human (2006a).
Conservation status: LC (2020).
description: Published as part of Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 4947 (1) on pages 52-53, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4947.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4614567