#2048 · 🦈 sharks & rays
Horn Shark
🇳🇱 Californische stierkophaai ·Heterodontus francisci
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Stefanie · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Steven Sennikoff · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © uzun · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Stefanie · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © M · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Michael Bear · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © Stefanie · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The horn shark ( Heterodontus francisci ) is a species of bullhead shark, in the family Heterodontidae. It is endemic to the coastal waters off the western coast of North America, from California to the Gulf of California. Young sharks are segregated spatially from the adults, with the former preferring deeper sandy flats and the latter preferring shallower rocky reefs or algal beds. 3 ft) in length, the horn shark can be recognized...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 1,672 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Charles Frédéric Girard in 1855 (171 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Horn Shark
- Nederlands
- Californische stierkophaai
- scientific name
- Heterodontus francisci
- class
- Chondrichthyes
- order
- Heterodontiformes
- family
- Heterodontidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 1,672
- GBIF records in NL
- 4
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1855 by Charles Frédéric Girard
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Heterodontidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 102710, Wikidata Q934615, GBIF 5215678, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.