The Antilles catshark (Galeus antillensis) is a common but little-known species of catshark, part of the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found on or near the bottom at a depth of off Florida and the West Indies from Jamaica to Martinique. It was once regarded as a subspecies of the similar roughtail catshark (G. arae), along with the longfin sawtail catshark (G. cadenati). Growing to long, the Antilles catshark is a slender species with a marbled color pattern of dark saddles and blotches, as well as a crest of enlarge dermal denticles along the front part of its dorsal caudal fin margin. It feeds on shrimp and may have schooling habits. Reproduction is oviparous. Taxonomy Shark expert Stewart Springer first described the Antilles catshark as an island subspecies of G. arae in a 1979 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Technical Report. The type specimen was collected off Saint Kitts in the Leeward Islands. In 1998 and 2000, Hera Konstantinou and colleagues published revisions of the G. arae species complex, wherein they elevated the subspecies G. a. antillensis and G. a. cadenati to full species, and described what had been considered the striped color morph of G. a. antillensis as a new species, G. springeri. The taxonomic distinction between this species and the recently described G. mincaronei of southern Brazil warrants further investigation. Distribution and habitat The Antilles catshark has been reported from the Straits of Florida, as well as from the waters around Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands, and Martinique. Its range may be wider than is known and overlaps that of G. springeri, but not G. arae or G. cadenati. This abundant, demersal species inhabits continental and insular slopes, at a depth of . Description The Antilles catshark grows larger than G. arae and G. cadenati, reaching a maximum known length of . Slim in build, it has a somewhat flattened head with a long, pointed snout. The horizontally oval eyes are equipped with rudimentary nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids), and are followed by tiny spiracles. There are no prominent ridges beneath the eyes. The nostrils are divided by triangular flaps of skin on their anterior rims. The mouth is short, wide, and curved, and bears rather long furrows at the corners. The teeth number around 56 upper and 52 lower rows; each tooth has a long central cusp flanked by one or two smaller cusplets on