CreatureData

Velvet belly

Etmopterus spinax (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedsharks and rays

The velvet belly (Etmopterus spinax) is a species in the family Etmopteridae, order Squaliformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the velvet belly

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the velvet belly live?

Not recorded

Is the velvet belly endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the velvet belly classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classElasmobranchii
  4. orderSqualiformes
  5. familyEtmopteridae
  6. genusEtmopterus
  7. SpeciesEtmopterus spinax (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Etmopterus aculeatus, Spinax gunneri, Spinax linnei, Spinax niger, Spinax vitulinus, Squalus infernus, Squalus niger, Squalus spinax

Other names and names in other languages (40)
  • Velvet belly lantern sharkEnglish
  • Velvet-bellyEnglish
  • gataAsturian
  • Нощна акулаBulgarian
  • NegretCatalan
  • morgi seithliwWelsh
  • sorthajDanish
  • kleiner schwarzer DornhaiGerman
  • ΜαυροαγκαθίτηςGreek
  • negritoSpanish
  • harilik tumehaiEstonian
  • PikkuhaiFinnish
  • sagre commumFrench
  • קוצן קטיפתיHebrew
  • Fekete tüskéscápaHungarian
  • naktinis juodasis dygliaryklisLithuanian
  • svarthåNorwegian Bokmål
  • donkerbuiklantaarnhaaiDutch
  • svarthåNorwegian Nynorsk
  • kolczak czarnyPolish
  • Ночная акулаRussian
  • peshkaqeni barkziAlbanian
  • blåkäxaSwedish
  • siyah camgozTurkish
  • Акула колюча чорнаUkrainian
  • Cá mập đèn lồngVietnamese
  • Morgwn SeithliwWelsh
  • Almindelig sorthajDanish
  • Schwarzer DornhaiGerman
  • sagre communFrench
  • blåmagaNorwegian Nynorsk
  • jomfruskruvNorwegian Nynorsk
  • småhaiNorwegian Nynorsk
  • svarttorskNorwegian Nynorsk
  • Бархатнобрюхая акулаRussian
  • акула колючая чёрнаяRussian
  • siyah camgözTurkish
  • siyah kopekbaligiTurkish
  • siyah köpekbalığıTurkish
  • Чорна колюча акулаUkrainian

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the velvet belly

Other species in the same genus Etmopterus.

Rough sagre

Etmopterus princeps

EtmopteridaeNo free photo yet

CompareVelvet belly vs Dwarf lantern sharkVelvet belly vs Smooth lanternsharkVelvet belly vs Blackbelly lanternsharkVelvet belly vs Rough sagre

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

What kind of animal is the velvet belly?

The velvet belly (Etmopterus spinax) belongs to the family Etmopteridae in the order Squaliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Velvet belly (Etmopterus spinax). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/velvet-belly

MLA

“Velvet belly (Etmopterus spinax).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/velvet-belly.

BibTeX
@misc{velvet_belly_2026,
  title = {Velvet belly (Etmopterus spinax)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/velvet-belly},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}