I have been researching the same thing and I've been getting the same 40 to 60 cm answers, however I have found that there is much smaller shark that exist like Isistius brasiliensis (cookie cutter shark) which reaches 42cm and the smaller Pigmy shark Euprotomicrus bispinatus and spined pygmy shark Squaliolus laticaudus which reach only 22 cm. I also found a bunch of species of the lantern shark genus like the Dwarf Lantern Shark (Etmopterus perryi) that is only 17 cm (6.8") or the Thorny or Green lantern shark which are 27 and 23 cm. Also some other catsharks within the 30 cm range. I'm by no means an expert on sharks being that I have been only researching this for a couple of days, but I wonder why no one mentiones these?i dont want to interrupt on this discussion but can someone please tell me the smalllest shark there is for aquariums? no ones really given me a direct answer
I see... well why don't we start first by identifying if those species are benthics or ORV and go from there by using the formulas to figure out the tank size they require. We could make a rough sugesstion for someone to start with and then gather info from people that try to keep them.Well sharks - such as the Cookie cutter & Lantern Sharks are virtually unknown in captivity - even in public aquaria - so there's no really estimate to use for figuring what these sharks may require in terms of tank size at this time.
I see, so deep water sharks = uncharted territory and no one knows even the basics for keeping them.... That's too bad.If you talking in general - that's basically what we do on this thread.
But if your talking about specifically for sharks like Cookie Cutters & Lantern Sharks. It's because there's not alot of general information available, much less captivity information on these species. But what information is known about these species suggests that they are oceanic deep water species. And such species are known very hard to collect and keep alive in captivity, for any reasonable length of time. Basically it would require new models to figure out how to keep such sharks. Anything else would be just a guess.
Thank you krj. May I also get some answers about the Small spotted cat shark Scyliorhinus canicula and the Nurse hound Scyliorhinus stellaris? What formula should I use for them? I guess the same as the Chain catshark Scyliorhinus retifer right?Well - in theory all smoothhounds use basically the same formulas - which is basically that of the swimming Non-ORV.