The Velvet-Belly Lantern Shark small shark with a moderately long, broad, flattened snout. The lower teeth are larger with interlocking bases. Both dorsal fins bear stout, grooved spines at the front, with the second much longer than the first and curved. The second dorsal fin is twice the size of the first and originates behind the pelvic fins and the anal fin is absent.
Bioluminescent photophores are present along the lateral line, scattered beneath the head but excluding the mouth, evenly on the belly, and concentrated around the pectoral fins and beneath the caudal peduncle. The sharks maximum size is only about 2 feet long with females being larger than males.
The velvet belly lantern shark is a common species of deepwater shark in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the velvet belly is found from Iceland and Norway to Gabon and South Africa including the Mediterranean Sea, the Azores, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde.
Young velvet bellies feed mainly on krill and small bony fish, transitioning to squid and shrimp as they grow larger.