Spiny dogfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the spiny dogfish lives – recorded in 14 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Squalus acanthias
Group	Sharks
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	14 countries
Continents	Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Squaliformes
Family	Squalidae

Where does the spiny dogfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the spiny dogfish in 14 countries and territories across Africa, Europe, North America and Oceania. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the spiny dogfish endangered?

The spiny dogfish’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the spiny dogfish?

The spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Squaliformes and the family Squalidae, genus Squalus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About 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).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Spiny dogfish (revision 1367713408), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q212694 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).