Nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris)

Scyliorhinus stellaris (Linnaeus, 1758)

Diagnosis

A common, moderate-sized and fairly stocky shark of sandy colour with numerous large dark spots and smaller speckles. Snout short, broadly rounded but with slightly angular tip; no depressed areas of upper lip; with conspicuous anterior nasal flaps widely separated, not greatly expanded or extending posteriorly to the mouth; labial furrows only on lower corners of the mouth. Eyes horizonatally elongate; spiracle fairly prominent. First dorsal fin origin opposite to pelvic fin insertions; second dorsal fin smaller than 1st, with its origin anterior to the anal fin insertion. Anal fin base elongate and measuring the same or less than the interdorsal space. Dorsal colour sandy-greyish, with numerous but rather sparsely-distributed dark spots and speckles, dark brown or nearly black in colour and larger than the size of the eye pupil; some spots in the form of empty rings; ventral surfaces lighter.


Size

To 162cm TL maximum; generally smaller to 130cm; size at hatching 16cm.


Status and Distribution

Mediterranean Sea: Common but not usually as abundant as S. canicula; entire Mediterranean including Adriatic Sea, Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus but not Black Sea.


Biology

A benthic shark ranging from the intertidal and exceptionally to 100m or more, usually at depths of 20 - 60m over coralline algal (sea grass), rocky or other rough bottoms. Preys mostly on benthic invertebrates, including crustaceans such as hermit and swimming crabs, also large shrimp; molluscs including squid and octopi; demersal bony fish such as gurnards, flatfishes and gadoids; also smaller catsharks.

Oviparous, with a single egg per oviduct at any time; egg cases measuring 10 -13cm long are deposited in the spring-summer in the low intertidal (on algae) and hatch after 7 - 9 months.