// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did the common smooth-hound go to the party? Because it heard it was a reel good time.

Common smooth-hound
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Triakidae
Genus:	Mustelus
Species:	M. mustelus
Binomial name
Mustelus mustelus (Linnaeus, 1758)
IUCN distribution   Extant (resident)
Synonyms
Squalus mustelus Linnaeus, 1758

The common smooth-hound (Mustelus mustelus) is a houndshark of the family Triakidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the British Isles to South Africa, and in the Mediterranean Sea, Madeira, and the Canary Islands at depths ranging from 5 to 625 metres (20 to 2,050 feet), although they usually stay at depths of 5 to 50 m (20 to 160 ft). While they can grow to 200 centimetres (80 inches), their usual maximum size is 150 cm (60 in). They commonly grow to 100–120 cm (40–50 in), with a birth length of around 35 cm (10 in).

The reproduction of commons smooth-hounds is viviparous.

Morphology and behavior

The common smooth-hound has a grey-brown back and is white on its underneath. It is often confused with the starry smooth-hound, which has white spots on its back. The starry smooth-hound can often have faded spots that leads to misidentification. Another shark with which it is often confused is the tope shark, although the common smooth-hound has a larger second dorsal fin. The common smooth-hound has two dorsal fins, an anal fin, a pair of pectoral fins, a pair of pelvic fins, and a heterocercal tail. All of these fins help stabilise the shark, but in males, the pelvic fins are modified to form claspers.

References

• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Mustelus mustelus". FishBase. May 2006 version.
• Smooth Hound (MUSTELUS MUSTELUS) - European Federation of Sea Angling Records

External links

• Media related to Mustelus mustelus at Wikimedia Commons