About Spiny Dogfish
The spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias Linnaeus 1758, is a small coastal shark of the second largest shark order known as Squaliformes (Dogfish Sharks). In this order are seven families and at least 130 species. The spiny dogfish is a member of the family Squalidae, which also has the common name of Dogfish Sharks. Current taxonomy identifies 16 species in this family (for recent taxonomic classification, see Compagno et al. 2006). All species typically are slender with a cylindrical or slightly flattened body. No member of the family has an anal fin, and all species have two dorsal fins with spines.
The spiny dogfish has a large spine on each dorsal fin, and its many common names reflect this unique body feature. Other common names include the spurdog, piked dogfish, codshark, thornshark, skittledog, spotted dogfish, and white spotted dogfish. In gourmet restaurants that serve this species, it is referred to as “northern shark”. The scientific name is from the Latin squalus (shark) and the Greek akanthias (referring to the spines).
|