Spotted estuary smooth-hound: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the spotted estuary smooth-hound lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Mustelus lenticulatus
Group	Sharks
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Carcharhiniformes
Family	Triakidae

Where does the spotted estuary smooth-hound live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the spotted estuary smooth-hound in 1 country or territory across Oceania. Wikidata lists it as endemic to New Zealand.

New Zealand

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 spotted estuary smooth-hound endangered?

The spotted estuary smooth-hound’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the spotted estuary smooth-hound?

The spotted estuary smooth-hound (Mustelus lenticulatus) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Carcharhiniformes and the family Triakidae, genus Mustelus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the spotted estuary smooth-hound

The spotted estuary smooth-hound or rig (Mustelus lenticulatus; Māori: makō) is a houndshark of the family Triakidae, found on the continental shelves and in estuaries around New Zealand. It is closely related to the gummy shark (Mustelus antarcticus) of Australia. Males can grow up to a length of 125 cm (49 in), while females can reach a length of 151 cm (59 in). In 2025, rigs were found to be the first known shark species capable of active sound production, namely, "clicks."

It is commercially fished, and is commonly served in fish and chip shops in New Zealand under the name "lemonfish". In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the spotted estuary smooth-hound as "not threatened" with the qualifier "conservation dependent" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Spotted estuary smooth-hound (revision 1355300012), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2283863 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).