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Nurse Shark
Cantioscyllium decipiens (Woodward)
Since I believe these to be the first pictures of Cantioscyllium
decipiens from New Jersey to be posted on the internet
I’ve decided to deviate from the normal format of this website and
devote a special section to C. decipiens. This
species is being reported for the first time from New Jersey in the publication “Revision of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Vertebrate
Fauna at Ramanessin Brook “ ¹ .
Description
The teeth of Cantioscyllium
decipiens are small, averaging between 4 and 5 mm (3/16's of an
inch) across and similar to the teeth of the other nurse sharks.
Distinguishing characteristics of C decipiens are the presence of
one to three weak cupslets on each shoulder and strong wrinkles on the
labial side of the tooth.
The teeth of C. decipiens are small averaging
between 4 and 5mm.
Determining the commonality of the smaller teeth is always difficult,
but given the fact that this species has only recently been reported
from NJ
leads me to believe that it is more on the scarce side.
One of the characteristics that distinguish C.
decipiens from the other
nurse sharks are the strong wrinkles on the labial side of the tooth.
The cusplets on this species is best described as weak
and can vary in
number from 1 to 3 on each shoulder. The tooth on the right shows
heavy feeding wear on the main cusp.
There is a single large medial nutrient pore and a
single pair of
lateral pores present on the root.
Left - profile view Right - view of the bottom of the
root.
The main cusp of Cantioscyllium decipiens is
relatively large. Although
the root is damaged on this specimen, the main cusp shows just a small
amount of feeding wear.
Three teeth perched on top of a quarter gives a good
perspective
of the tooth sizes.
(US quarter = 24mm)
¹ Mehling, C. M., W. R. Callahan, and M. P.
Garb. 2008. Revision of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Vertebrate Fauna
at Ramanessin Brook, NJ. In Press.
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