African angelshark

The African angelshark (Squatina africana) is a flattened, ray-like shark of the family Squatinidae that lives in the Western Indian Ocean. Newborns measure roughly 28 to 30 cm, mature males average about 80 cm and mature females about 90 cm, and the largest known specimen was about 122 cm. Its colour runs from greyish to reddish brown, with many light and dark spots that appear as eyespots in the young and give way to dark saddles and blotches on the broad, angular pectoral fins as it grows. It is found along the eastern coast of Africa from South Africa to Tanzania and out to Madagascar, in sand and mud on the continental shelf and upper slope, usually between 60 m and 300 m deep. It lies buried to ambush prey such as small bony fishes, squid, octopuses and shrimp, and it is ovoviviparous. The IUCN Red List treats it as near threatened, with trawl fishery bycatch the named pressure, and it is common only on the east coast of South Africa.