Author: Linnaeus, 1758

Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis: anterior nasal flap without a minute lobe. Inner corner of pectoral fins rounded, distal margin weakly concave; origin of first dorsal spine on a vertical with inner pectoral corner (juveniles) or behind inner pectoral corner (adults); second dorsal fin considerably smaller than first. Denticles on sides of body below first dorsal fin spike-like (juveniles) or tridentate (adults). Colour: upper surface of body slate grey, rarely brownish-grey, generally with white spots, but spots may disappear with age or never be present; lower surface pale grey to white. Size: 60-90 cm (males), 75-105 cm (females).

Habitat: benthic on soft bottoms, from 10 m to about 200 m, rarely to 950 m, rather sluggish but migratory, often forming large schools. Food: fishes and to a lesser extent squids and benthic invertebrates. Reproduction: ovoviviparous, one litter every two years of 2-11 embryos, gestation 18-22 months.

Distribution: southern Greenland, Iceland and the Murman coast south to Madeira and Morocco and in Mediterranean and Black Sea, rarely the Baltic. Elsewhere southward to the Canaries; also, western Atlantic, from western Greeniand and Labrador to North Carolina, rarely off Florida and Cuba; North Pacific from Bering Sea to Baja California in the east and Hawaii and China in the west; all three oceans of the South ern Hemisphere.

Complementary iconography. Andersson, 1942: col. pl. 69, left | Rasmussen & Dannevig in Rollefsen et al., 1960: fig. 188 | Muus & Dahlström, 1965: 44-45, fig. 10.
Eggs, embryonic and young stages. Scammon & Minot, 1911: 1-140, fig. 1-26, pl. I-IV.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Squalidae
Genus Squalus
Species Squalus acanthias

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758

Scientific synonyms and common names

Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms:

Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758
Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1: 233 ('Habitat in Oceano Europaeo'). Two specimens (? syntypes) in the Linnaean Collection in Uppsala, no. 159 (in alcohol), no. 160 (dried).
Acanthorhinus acanthias: Blainville, 1816: 121 .
Spinax acanthias: Cloquet, 1816, Dict. Sci. nat., 1 (suppl.): 91-93 (new name only).
Acanthias vulgaris Risso, 1826, Hist. nat. Eur. mérid., 3: 131-]32 (new name for Squalus acanthias Linnaeus only).
Acanthias acanthias: Bonaparte, 1838: 207 Nobre, 1935: 445.
Acanthias americanus Storer, 1846, Mem. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. (n.s.), 2: 506-507 (New York to Labrador and beyond) No type material.
Spinax vulgaris: Guichenot, 1850, Explor. Algér., Poiss., 3: 125.
Acanthias vulgaris: Duméril, 1865: 437-438 Bocage & Capello, 1866: 21-22 Moreau, 1881: 342-345, fig. 58 Day, 1884: 315-318, pl. CLX (fig. 2) Ehrenbaum, 1929: pl. 22 Soljan, 1963: 67, fig.
Acanthias linnei Malm, 1877, Göteborgs och Bohusläns Fauna: 624-625 (new name for Squalus acanthias Linnaeus).
Squalus acanthias: Smitt, 1895: 1158-1162, fig. 338-339, pl. LII (fig. 1-2) Griffini, 1903: 105 Saemundsson, 1926: 468-472, fig. 247 Lozano Rey, 1928: 424428, fig. 139-140, pl. IV (fig. I) Ehrenbaum, 1936: 284-286, ph XXI (fig. 251) Redeke, 1941: 40-41, fig. 14 Poll, 1947: 62-6s, fig. 36-38 Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948b: 455-473, fig. 87A, B, 88 (extensive synonymy) Jensen, 1948: l0-l2 Tortonese, 1956: 170-173, fig. 34, 90-91 Duncker & Ladiges, 1960: 51-53, fig. 8 Andriashev, 1964: 38-40, fig. 16 Svetovidov, 1964: 26-31, fig. 46 Bini, 1967: 88-90, fig. Banarescu, 1969: 86-90, fig. 48 Wheeler, 1969: 67-68, fig. Ledoux, 1970: 321-323, fig. 4.
Squalus barbouri Rivero, 1936, Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 41: 47-48, pl. XII (off Jairnanitas, W. of Havana). Holotype: MCZ Selachians no. 1463.


Common names:

Spurdog [En]
picked dog-fish [En]
Aiguillat commun [Fr]
Mielga [Es]
galludos [Es]
pighaj [Da]
Dornhai [De]
irsh [Eg]
koscenjak [Hr]
háfur [Is]
spinarolo [It]
karish kotzani [Iw]
mazzola [Mlt]
doornhaai [Ne]
pigghå [No]
kolén [Pl]
cação galhudo [Pr]
piikkihait [Su]
pigghaj [Sv]
mahmuzlu camgöz [Tu]
koljuchaja akula [Ru]

Andersson, K. A., ed. 1942. Fiskar och fiske i Norden. 1, Fiskar och fiske i havet. Stockholm, xvi+540 p., 83 col. pl., 230 fig. 2, Fiskar och Fiske i Sjör och Floder: xvii-xxiv+541-1016, fig. 231-426, col. pl. 84128. (New edition in 1954, 2: 425-769, 190 fig., 42 col. pl.)

Andriashev, A. P.1964b. Fishes of the Northern Seas of the USSR. Jerusalem, IPST, 617 p., 300 fig. (Translated from: Ryby severnykh morei SSSR. Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Moskwa-Leningrad, 1954.)

Banarescu, P. 1969. Cyclostomata si Chondrichthyes. Fauna Repub. pop. rom., Bucuresti, 12 (1): 106 p., 50 fig.

Bigelow, H. B.; Schroeder, W. C. 1948b. Sharks. In: Fishes of the western north Atlantic. Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res., New Haven, 1(1): 59-576, fig. 6-106.

Bini, G. 1967-72. Atlante dei pesci delle Coste italiane. Mondo Sommerso, Milano, 9 vol: I, 1967, Leptocardi, Ciclostomi, Selaci, 206 p., 66 fig+64 col. fig. II, 1971, Osteitti (Acipenseriformi, Clupeiformi, Mictofiformi, Anguilliformi), 300 p., 73 col. fig. III, 1970, Notacantiformi . . . Zeiformi, 229 p., 34 fig+63 col. fig. IV, 1968, Perciformi (Mugiloidei, Percoidei), 163 p., 34 fig+49 col. fig. V, 1968, Perciformi (Percoidei), 175 p., 22 fig.+56 col. fig. VI, 1968, Perciformi (Trichiuroidei . . . Blennioidei), 177 p., 48 fig+57 col. fig. VII,1969, Perciformi (Ofidioidei . . . Dactilopteroidei), 196 p., 57 fig.+59 col. fig. VIII,1968, Pleuronettiformi, Echeniformi, Gobioesociformi, Tetraodontiformi, Lofiformi, 164 p., 34+63 fig. IX, 1972, Introduzione. Parte generale. Aggiornamenti. Indici. 176 p.

Blainville, H. M. Ducrotay de. 1816. Prodrome d'une nouvelle distribution systématique du règne animal. Bull. Soc. philomath. Paris, 8 :105 (=113)-124.

Bocage, J. V. B.; Capello, F. de. 1866. Notes pour servir à l'ichthyologie du Portugal. Poissons Plagiostomes, pt. I. Squales: 40 p., 3 pl.

Bonaparte, C. L. 1838. Selachorum tabula analytica. Nuovi Annali Sci. nat., Bologna, 2 :195-214.

Cloquet, H. 1816-45. Poissons in Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, 60 vol. text+2 vol. suppl., pl. Poissons: Atlas, 4, 85 col. pl.

Day, F. 1880-84. The Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland. London-Edinburgh, 2 vol., cxii+336 p., 5+7 fig., 92 pl. and 388 p., 87 pl. 1880:1(1):1-64, pl. I-XXVII; 1881: 1(2) (3): 65-240, pl. XXVIII-LXVIII; 1882: 1(4): 241-336, pl. LXIX-XCII; 2 (5) :1-96, pl. XCIII-CXVI; 1883: 2 (6): 97-176, pl. CXVII-CXXXII; 2 (7) :177-272, pl. CXXXIII-CXLVIII; 1884: 2 (8): 273-368, pl. CXLIX-CLXXIX.

Duméril, A. H. A.1865. Histoire naturelle des poissons ou ichthyologie générale, Paris, 2 vol., 1: 720 p., Atlas: 14 pl.

Duncker, G.; Ladiges, W. 1960. Die Fische der Nordmark. Abh. naturw. Ver., Hamburg, N.F., 3, suppl. :1-432, 145 fig.J I map.

Ehrenbaum, E. 1929-30. Etmopterus spinax, Acanthias vulgaris, Acanthorhinus carcharias. In: L. Joubin, ed., Faune ichthyol. Atlant. N., Copenhagen: fiches 21, 22, 27.

Ehrenbaum, E. 1936. Naturgeschichte und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung der Seefische Nordeuropas, in Handbuch der Seefischerei N. Eur., 2: x+337 p., 276 fig., 2 tabl., 26 pl.

Griffini, A. 1903. Ittiologia italiana, Manuali Hoepli, Milano: xii+475 p., 244 fig.

Guichenot, A. 1850. Histoire naturelle des Reptiles et des Poissons. Explor. Scient., Algérie, 1840-42. Sc. Phys., Zool., 5:148 p., pl. 1-4 (Rept.)+1-8 (Poiss.).

Jensen, A. S.1948. Contribution to the ichthyofauna of Greenland 8-24. Spolia. zool Mus. haun., 9 :1-182, 26 fig., 4 pl.

Ledoux, J. C. 1970. Les dents des Squalidés de la Méditerranée occidentale et de l'Atlantique Nord-ouest africain. Vie Milieu, 21 (2A): 309-362, 21 fig.

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, ed. X, vol. 1, 824 p. Nantes & Pisces: 230-338. (Reprint, 1956, London.)

Lozano y Rey, L.1928. Fauna Ibérica. Pesces (Generalidades, Ciclóstomos y Elasmobranquios). Mus. Nac. Ciencias Nat., Madrid, 1:1-692,197 fig., 20 pl.

Malm, A. W. 1877. Göteborg och Bohusläns fauna. Ryggradsdjuren. Göteborg, 674 p., 9 pl.

Moreau, E.1881-91. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: I-VII+ 1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881:1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881:1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Muus, B. J.; Dahlström, P. 1965. Meeresfische in Farben, 244 p., 173 numb. and many unnumb. fig.

Poll, M.1947. Poissons marins in Faune de Belgique. Bruxelles, 452 p., 267 fig., 2 pl., 2 maps n. num. (inset).

Rasmussen, T.; Dannevig, G. 1960. Norges saltvannsfisker i plansjer og tekst. In: G. Rollefsen, G. Dannevig, H. Mosby, K. Sunnanå & H. Tambs-Lyche, Havet og våre Fisker. 1: 156+111 p., many unnumbered fig., 223 pl.

Redeke, H. C. 1941. Fauna van Nederland. X. Pisces (Cyclostomi-Euichthyes). Leiden: 1-331, 117 fig.

Risso, A.1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes. Paris et Strasbourg, vol. III, XVI+486 p., 16 pl.

Rivero, L. H. 1936. Some new, rare and little-known fishes from Cuba. Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 41: 41-76, pl. 9-13.

Saemundsson, B. 1926. Fiskarnir (Pisces Islandiae). Islensk Dyr, 1. xvi+528 p., 266 fig.

Scammon, R. E.; Minot, C. S. 1911. Normal plates of the development of Squalus acanthias. Normentafeln zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Wirbeltiere. xii+140 p., 26 fig., 4 pl.

Smitt, F. A. 1893-95. (ed.) A history of Scandinavian fishes, Stockholm and Paris, Atlas, I, 1893, pl. i-xxvii.

Soljan, T. 1963. Fishes of the Adriatic (Ribe Jadrana). Fauna et flora adriatica 1 (revised and enlarged for the English edition), 428 p., many unnumbered fig.

Storer, D. H. 1846. A synopsis of the Fishes of North America. Mem. Am. Acad. Arts Sci., 2: 253-550.

Svetovidov, A. N. 1964. Rîbî Chernogo Morya. [The fishes of the Black Sea]. Opred Faune SSSR, 86 :1-552, fig. 1-191 (in Russian).

Tortonese, E. 1956b. Leptocardia, Ciclostomata, Selachii. Fauna Ital., 2: 334 p., 163 fig.

Wheeler, A. 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Macmillan, London, Melbourne and Toronto: i-xvii+1-163, 5+177 fig., +392 fig. (princ. sp.)+92 n. num. fig., 16 pl., maps.

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