Author: Risso, 1826

Mustelus punctulatus Risso, 1826

Diagnosis: snout gently rounded; inter-nostril distance 1.1-1.2 times nostril width; upper labial folds longer than lowers. Teeth asymmetrical, small accessory cusplet present in young. Dorsal fins with dark trailing edge, the ceratotrichia bare on margin and giving a frayed appearance; second dorsal fin similar to first, but smaller; pectoral fins broadly triangular; weak ridges extending less than halfway along denticles, which are much longer than wide. Colour: grey to brown above, with small dark blotches, white below; trailing edges of dorsal fins dark. Size: mature at 50-60 cm TL.

Habitat: coastal. Food: fishes and crabs. Reproduction: perhaps viviparous, young born at 30 cm TL.

Distribution: Morocco to southern Portugal and throughout Mediterranean. Elsewhere, southward to Spanish Sahara.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Quignard & Capape, 1972: 26 | Capapé, 1974a: 331.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Triakidae
Genus Mustelus
Species Mustelus punctulatus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Mustelus punctulatus Risso, 1827

Scientific synonyms and common names

Mustelus punctulatus Risso, 1826

Synonyms:

Mustelus mediterraneus Quignard & Capape, 1972, Rev. Trav. Inst. Pêches marit., 36 (1): 23, fig. 3,10-12 (Mediterranean and Atlantic) Capapé & Quignard, 1977: 103, 10 fig.
? Mustelus punctulatus Risso, 1826, Hist. Nat. Europe Mérid., 3: 127 (part.). Type lost. (M. punctulatus Risso, 1826, may apply either to this species or to M. mustelus (Linnaeus, 1758), as its distinguishing characteristic of black spots occurs in both M. mustelus and M. mediterraneus (Quignard & Capape, 1972: 23-24)).

Common names:

Blackspotted smoothhound [En]
Emissole pointillee [Fr]
Musola pimienta [Es]

Capapé, C. 1974a. Observations sur la sexualite, la reproduction et la fecondite de 16 Selaciens pleurotremes, ovipares, aplacentaires des cotes tunisiennes. Arch. Inst. Pasteur Tunis, 51: 229-256, 329-344.

Capapé, C; Quignard, J.P. 1977. Contribution a la connaissance de la biologie des Triakidae des c6tes tunisiennes. I. Mustelus mediterraneus Quignard et Capape, 1972: Repartition geographique et bathymetrique, migrations et deplacements, reproduction, fecondite. Bull. Off. Nat. Peches de Tunisie, 1 (1): 103-122, 10 fig.

Quignard, J. P.; Capape, Ch. 1972. Note sur les espèces méditerranéennes du genre Mustelus (Selachii, Galeoidea, Triakidae). Rev. Trav. Inst. Pêches marit., 36 (1): 15-29, fig. 1-12.

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.

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