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EFSA - European Federation Of Sea Anglers

Spurdog (SQUALUS ACANTHIAS)

Line
Class
kgs		 Line
Class
lbs		 Weight
in
kgs		 Weight
in
lbs. ozs		 Place
of
capture		 Country
of
capture		 Date
of
capture		 Name
of
angler
     
SPURDOG / SQUALUS ACANTHIAS
2 4 5.53 12.3 Fladen Sweden 270887 M. Agren
4 8 6.46 14.4 Newhaven England 030676 J. Pemberton
6 12 7.31 16.2 Newhaven England 220376 J. Pemberton
8 16 6.52 14.6 Clovelly England 240302 M. Mallows
10 20 8.22 18.2 Kenmare Bay Eire 200788 H. Muller
15 30 9.30 20.8 Newhaven England 170179 R. Hunt
AT AT 10.40 22.15 Varberg Sweden 70 O. Mortensen
*SH SH 7.61 16.12 Chesil Beach England 64 R. Legg

The spurdog (SQUALUS ACANTHIAS)

has other English language common names including spiny dogfish, blue dog, common spinyfish, darwen salmon, dogfish, grayfish, Pacific dogfish, piked dogfish, rock salmon, spiky dog, spotted spiny dogfish, spring dogfish, spur dogfish, spur dog, victorian spotted dogfish, white-spotted dogfish, and white-spotted spurdog.

The common name "dogfish" originated from fishermen who described these fish as chasing smaller fish in large dog-like "packs".

Other language common names include abou shoka (Arabic), abura-tsunozame (Japanese), abushoka (Arabic), agullat (Catalan), aiguillat commun (French), akula (Bulgarian), an fiogach gobach (Irish), cação-de-espinho (Portuguese), câine de mare (Rumanian), can bianco (Italian), doornhaai (Dutch), doringhai (Afrikaans), dornfisch (German), eqalussuaq kukilik (Greenlandic), galhudo (Portuguese), galludo (Spanish), grundhai (German), háfur (Icelandic), katran (Russian), kentroni (Greek), koinga (Maori), kolen (Polish), mazzola (Maltese), mielga (Spanish), morsko kuce (Bulgarian), pigghaj (Swedish), pinchudo (Spanish), qozan qetan (Hebrew), rechin (Rumanian), skyllos (Greek), spikkel-haai (Afrikaans), and spinarolo (Italian).

Spurdogs are found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Greenland to Argentina and in the eastern Atlantic from Iceland and Murmanski Coast (Russia) to South Africa including the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. In the western Pacific Ocean, the spurdog occurs from the Bering Sea to New Zealand while in the eastern Pacific, this species is found from the Bering Sea to Chile.

The spurdog has a slender, elongate body and a moderately flattened head. The snout is narrow, tapering to a pointed tip. The eyes of this dogfish are moderately large. The first dorsal fin is located about halfway between the pectoral and pelvic fin origins and behind the rear tips of the pectoral fins. The second dorsal fin is about two-thirds the size of the first and is located behind the pelvic fins.

spurdog (SQUALUS ARCANTHIAS)

There are sharp dorsal fin spines at the anterior margins of the dorsal fins with the first about half as long and the second nearly as long as the anterior margins of their respective fins. The pectoral fins form nearly perfect equilateral triangles with rounded rear tips and slightly concave rear margins. The pelvic fins are closer to the second dorsal fin than the first dorsal. There are low lateral keels located on the caudal peduncle. There is no notch on the upper caudal lobe and the lower caudal lobe is not well-developed. There is no anal fin.

The dorsal surface of the spiny dogfish is slate-colored and may have a brownish cast. There is a lateral row of small white spots along each side from above the pectoral fins to above the pelvic fins. These spots of conspicuous on immature fish, fading with growth until they disappear entirely from some individuals. The edges of the first and second dorsal fins and the caudal fin appear dusky at birth but quickly fade. The ventral surface of the spiny dogfish ranges from pale gray to pure white.

Information supplied by www.flmnh.ufl.edu

 
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