Leopard catshark large black spots. Subsequent authors have recognized these names as based on pattern variants of the leopard catshark; resolving the identity of "P. marleyi" proved especially problematic and it was not confirmed to be a synonym of this species until 2003. The valid scientific name of the leopard catshark is considered to be "Poroderma pantherinum", attributed to Müller and Henle as they were responsible for the description. The specific epithet "pantherinum" refers to the panther-like patterning of the type specimen, a long female collected off the Cape of Good Hope. Other common names for this shark include barbeled catshark and
Black panther can be littermates. It is thought that melanism may confer a selective advantage under certain conditions since it is more common in regions of dense forest, where light levels are lower. Recently, preliminary studies also suggest that melanism might be linked to beneficial mutations in the immune system. Data on the distribution of leopard populations indicates that melanism occurs in seven subspecies: Javan leopard ("P. p. melas"), African leopard ("P. p. pardus"), Indian leopard ("P. p. fusca"), Indochinese leopard ("P. p. delacouri"), Sri Lankan leopard ("P. p. kotiya"), Arabian leopard and Amur leopard ("P. p. orientalis"). Black leopards are common