#2007 · 🦈 sharks & rays
Small-spotted Catshark
🇳🇱 Hondshaai ·Scyliorhinus canicula
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © kristobal22 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © tamsynmann · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Ana Santos · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Pierre Corbrion · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Nick · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © norgram · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
The small-spotted catshark ( Scyliorhinus canicula ), also known as the sandy dogfish , lesser-spotted dogfish , Rough-hound , or Morgay (in Scotland and Cornwall), is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found on the continental shelves and the uppermost continental slopes off the coasts of Norway and the British Isles south to Senegal and in the Mediterranean, between latitudes 63° N and 12° N. It can grow up to a length of 1 m (3 ft 3 in), and it can...
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
- Spotted 143 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #2 most seen of the sharks & rays in NL.
- 5,312 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Small-spotted Catshark
- Nederlands
- Hondshaai
- scientific name
- Scyliorhinus canicula
- class
- Chondrichthyes
- order
- Carcharhiniformes
- family
- Scyliorhinidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 143
- sightings in Europe
- 4,719
- sightings worldwide
- 5,312
- GBIF records in NL
- 8,136
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Scyliorhinidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 112372, Wikidata Q84822, GBIF 2418684, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.