horn shark
heterodontus francisci latin

Off southern California, horn sharks are known to take advantage of seasonal opportunities.

In nature, horn sharks exposed to a bright light at night may stop swimming and sink to the bottom.

They are commonly referred to as the bullhead, or horn sharks.

Horn sharks hunt mainly using their sense of smell.

Under normal circumstances, horn sharks are harmless to humans and can readily be approached underwater.

Horn sharks are harmless unless harassed, and are readily maintained in captivity.

The horn shark's dermal denticles are small and smooth, numbering some 200/cm2 on the back in adults.

Horn sharks are less common than swellsharks in the northern Channel Islands, where the water is cooler.

Like other sharks, the horn shark's teeth are regularly replaced; it takes 4 weeks for a dropped tooth to be replaced.

The horn shark captures prey via suction, created by expanding its buccal cavity.

The specific epithet francisci is a reference to San Francisco, although the range of the horn shark does not extend that far north.

Slow-moving, generally solitary predators, horn sharks hunt at night inside small home ranges and retreat to a favored shelter during the day.

The horn shark's supraorbital ridges are low and terminate abruptly; the space between them on top of the head is deeply concave.

Mating in the horn shark occurs in December or January, on a possibly annual reproductive cycle.

Like other bullhead sharks, the horn shark has a short, wide head with a blunt snout and prominent supraorbital ridges over the eyes.

Horn sharks grow slowly and at a highly variable rate that does not correspond to their size; this has frustrated attempts to determine their aging process.

The horn shark adapts well to captivity and has been maintained and bred in many public aquariums across the United States.

The horn shark has no commercial value in California, where it is captured unintentionally in traps and trawls and by recreational anglers.

Heterodontus francisci (Horn shark)

The horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) is a species of bullhead shark, family Heterodontidae.

As they mature, horn sharks shift into shallower water and their preferred habitat becomes structurally complex rocky reefs or algae beds.

The horn shark is a clumsy, sporadic swimmer that prefers to use its flexible, muscular pectoral fins to push itself along the bottom.

X (Cryptic Horn Shark)

Diving in the popular swimming areas near the island, Bruder may have encountered docile angel sharks, and small species such as swell and horn sharks.

The horn shark is preyed upon by larger fishes and the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), which consumes adults, juveniles, and egg cases.

Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci)