Overview

Sleeper sharks are cold-water and deepwater specialists with a deliberate pace and a subdued profile. In PocketShark, that usually means a soft-bodied shark of the slope or polar sea rather than a fast coastal hunter. Typical features include a soft-looking body, small dorsal fins set far back, no anal fin, and a generally subdued gray to brown coloration. Sleeper sharks occur in cold-temperate, polar, and deep offshore waters around the world. Some species are strongly Arctic or subarctic, while others occupy deep temperate slopes.

They are associated with cold deep basins, continental slopes, fjords, and high-latitude shelf waters.

Added from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Why it matters: The family includes some of the most cold-adapted sharks on Earth.

Common nameScymnodalatias Oligodon
Scientific nameScymnodalatias oligodon
FamilySomniosidae
OrderSqualiformes
Depth range0 to 0 meters
RegionUnknown
DietData not available in this offline release.
HabitatMarine waters (habitat data not available locally).
Why it stands outFamily: Somniosidae

What this shark is

Typical features include a soft-looking body, small dorsal fins set far back, no anal fin, and a generally subdued gray to brown coloration.

Where it lives

Sleeper sharks occur in cold-temperate, polar, and deep offshore waters around the world. Some species are strongly Arctic or subarctic, while others occupy deep temperate slopes.

They are associated with cold deep basins, continental slopes, fjords, and high-latitude shelf waters.

How it differs from similar sharks

Family: Somniosidae

Compare it against Azores dogfish, Scymnodalatias Albicauda, and Scymnodalatias Sherwoodi.

Why it is notable

Most species live too deep or too cold to interact much with people. Fisheries bycatch and the pace of their life history are the bigger concerns.

Species-level taxonomy was verified from Sharkipedia's current species list and taxonomy workbook. In this pass, the narrative fields are cautious family-level placeholders synthesized from broad shark references, chiefly the FAO Sharks of the World catalogue, because a stronger multi-source species-level synthesis was not assembled here without risking invented detail. Replace this with a direct species-level synthesis before publication in the app.

Related shark pages

These links are meant to help readers continue through related species, not force extra clicks.

Scymnodalatias garricki

Azores dogfish

Shark species in Somniosidae.

Greenland shark deep-sea photograph showing the blunt head and heavy cylindrical body; not to scale.
Somniosus microcephalus

Greenland shark

Shark species in Somniosidae.

7.3 m max