Portuguese Dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) > Fish |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Centroscymnus coelolepis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Barbosa du Bocage & de Brito Capello, 1864 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Near threatened on global IUCN red list and decreasing and in England, deep water shark knowledge is highly deficient. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Species specific research required & Red List status update. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 1. Taxonomy established |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Pressures outside England & threatened by bycatch in deep water fisheries (policy conflict) |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Development of specific studies to assess the distribution patterns of species and to estimate the spatial overlap with fisheries.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: The data derived from discard sampling is not adequate to provide robust estimates of the quantities of Portuguese dogfish that are caught. Therefore, available data are insufficient to fully evaluate the current status of the species. Evaluation of the effect on the bycatch of deep water sharks of modifications in deep water fishing operations are required.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Pressure mitigation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Most landings occurring as bycatch in the deep-water trawl fishery targeting roundnose grenadier, black scabbardfish and blue ling.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Update England Red List status
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.