Spiny dogfish
Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758
The spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is a fish in the sharks and rays subgroup, belonging to the family Squalidae in the order Squaliformes. It is classified in the class Elasmobranchii and the genus Squalus, and was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Quick facts about the spiny dogfish
The IUCN Red List global assessment lists the spiny dogfish as Vulnerable (VU), an IUCN threatened category. Other English names for it include spurdog, dogfish, grayfish, picky dog and Cape shark.
- Weight
- up to 5.97 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 1.36 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Age at maturity
- 5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the spiny dogfish
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the spiny dogfish live?
Not recorded
What is the spiny dogfish?
The spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfishes) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order.
While these common names may apply to several species, Squalus acanthias is distinguished by two spines (one anterior to each dorsal fin) and no anal fin. It lives in shallow waters and further offshore in most parts of the world, especially in temperate waters. Those in the northern Pacific Ocean were reevaluated in 2010 and found to constitute a separate species, now called the Pacific spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi).
From the Wikipedia article “Spiny dogfish” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spiny_dogfish&oldid=1383665700), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the spiny dogfish endangered?
The spiny dogfish is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.
How is the spiny dogfish classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classElasmobranchii
- orderSqualiformes
- familySqualidae
- genusSqualus
- SpeciesSqualus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Acanthias americanus, Acanthias antiguorum, Acanthias commun, Acanthias lebruni, Acanthias linnei, Acanthias vulgaris, Acanthias vulgaris, Acanthorhinus acanthias, Flakeus tasmaniensis, Koinga kirki, Koinga kirki, Koinga whitleyi, Spinax acantheus, Spinax acanthias, Spinax mediterraneus, Spinax vulgaris, Squalus acanthias acanthias, Squalus acanthias africana, Squalus acanthias chilensis, Squalus acanthias ponticus, Squalus acanthis, Squalus achantias, Squalus antiquorum, Squalus barbouri, Squalus blainvillei, Squalus canis, Squalus fernandinus, Squalus kirki, Squalus lebruni, Squalus suckleyi acanthias, Squalus tasmaniensis, Squalus vulgaris, Squalus wakiyae, Squalus whitleyi
Other names and names in other languages (61)
- Cape sharkEnglish
- Cape sharkEnglish
- DogfishEnglish
- GrayfishEnglish
- Picked dog-fishEnglish
- Picked dogfishEnglish
- Picky dogEnglish
- Piked dogfishEnglish
- Piked dogfishEnglish
- Spiny dogfish sharkEnglish
- SpurdogEnglish
- SpurdogEnglish
- SpurdogEnglish
- c'hiBreton
- spinekBreton
- ci pigogWelsh
- Cwn PigogWelsh
- pighajDanish
- Almindelig pighajDanish
- DornhaiGerman
- gemeiner DornhaiGerman
- ΚεντρόνιGreek
- agulatSpanish
- Cazón EspinosoSpanish
- cazón espinoso comúnSpanish
- EspinilloSpanish
- GalludoSpanish
- galludo espinosoSpanish
- galludosSpanish
- mielgaSpanish
- piikkihaiFinnish
- aiguillatFrench
- aiguillat communFrench
- aiquillatFrench
- chien dardFrench
- fiógachIrish
- cu-maireScottish Gaelic
- קוצן נקודHebrew
- háfurIcelandic
- spinaroloItalian
- アブラツノザメJapanese
- paprastasis dygliaryklisLithuanian
- pigghåNorwegian Bokmål
- doornhaaiDutch
- pigghåNorwegian Nynorsk
- blankhåNorwegian Nynorsk
- pigghåNorwegian
- koleń pospolityPolish
- galhudoPortuguese
- câine de mareRomanian
- Акула катранRussian
- hoahkkaNorthern Sami
- peshkaqen gjëmborAlbanian
- håSwedish
- pigghajSwedish
- mahmuzlu camgozTurkish
- mahmuzlu camgözTurkish
- КатранUkrainian
- Акула катранUkrainian
- Катран звичайнийUkrainian
- морський собакаUkrainian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spiny dogfish
Other species in the same genus Squalus.
Longnose spurdog
Squalus blainville
Cuban dogfish
Squalus cubensis
Japanese spurdog
Squalus japonicus
Cyrano spurdog
Squalus melanurus
Green-eye spurdog
Squalus mitsukurii
Greeneye dogfish
Squalus albifrons
CompareSpiny dogfish vs Longnose spurdogSpiny dogfish vs Cuban dogfishSpiny dogfish vs Japanese spurdogSpiny dogfish vs Cyrano spurdog
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the spiny dogfish?
The spiny dogfish is a fish in the sharks and rays subgroup. It belongs to the family Squalidae in the order Squaliformes.
Is the spiny dogfish endangered?
The spiny dogfish is listed as Vulnerable (VU) in the IUCN Red List global assessment, which is an IUCN threatened category.
What is the scientific name of the spiny dogfish?
The scientific name of the spiny dogfish is Squalus acanthias, in the genus Squalus.
Who named the spiny dogfish and when?
The spiny dogfish was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
What are other names for the spiny dogfish?
Other English names for the spiny dogfish are spurdog, dogfish, grayfish, picky dog and Cape shark.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/squalus-acanthias
“Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/squalus-acanthias.
@misc{squalus_acanthias_2026,
title = {Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/squalus-acanthias},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}