Figure 1. – A in First record of prickly shark Echinorhinus cookei (Pietschmann, 1928) (Chondrichthyes: Echinorhinidae) in French Polynesia (Eastern Tropical Pacific)

Figure 1. – A (lateral view): Large shark with a cylindrical greyish brown dorsally body and a moderately depressed head, holding a short snout. The two small spineless posterior dorsal fins (see arrows 1 and 2), both smaller than the pelvic fins, and situated close together, as well as the absence of subterminal notch on the caudal fin (arrow 3), are specific to an Echinorhinidae. The origin of the first dorsal fin behind the pelvic-fin origin is also very specific an Echinorhinus (Compagno and Niem, 1998). B (schemas adapted from Castro, 2010): showing the differences of the shapes of the two dorsal fins with rounded corners for E. brucus and more squared ones for E. cookie. C (lateral view): In situ photo of a specimen of E. cookie adapted from Long et al., 2011) showing a high similarity in the shape of the dorsal fins. D (Posterior view): Confirmation of the presence of claspers behind the pelvic fins (see arrow 1).