Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Scyliorhinidae (Cat sharks) > Scyliorhininae
Etymology: Scyliorhinus: skylion, Greek for dogfish or small shark; rhinus, from rhine (Gr.), rasp, alluding to a shark’s jagged, rasp-like skin. (See ETYFish);
More on author: Linnaeus.

Marine; demersal; depth range 10 - 780 m (Ref. 56504) usually 80 - 100 m (Ref. 81056); subtropical; 63°N - 3°N32°W - 37°E.

North Sea (sw coast of Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark), Northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Portugal); Mediterranean Sea (Spain, France, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco); nw Africa, close to the Strait of Gibraltar and to the north of Mauritania (20º30’N); including Norwegian Sea.

Maturity: L_m 50.0, range 35 - 64 cm
Max length: 100 cm TL male/unsexed (Ref. 244); common length: 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed (Ref. 4645); max. published weight: 3.7 kg (Ref. 128278); max. reported age: 12 years (Ref. 81067).

Most common catshark in coastal waters of Europe (Ref. 32804). Inhabits continental shelves and uppermost slopes. Found on sandy, coralline, algal, gravel or muddy bottoms. Occurs mainly between 10-100 m depth in the northeast Atlantic and up to 400 m depth in the Mediterranean Sea (Ref. 88187) and from 288-780 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). They sometimes occur in midwater. Nocturnal species, males resting on substrate and females hiding in shallow (0.5-1.5 m depth) caves and crevices during the day (Ref. 88835). Feed on a variety of benthic invertebrates, including mollusks, crustaceans, small cephalopods, polychaete worms, and small bony fishes (Ref. 244, 11889). Males have been found to forage in shallow prey-rich areas with soft sediment or areas covered with filamentous algae (Ref. 88836). Oviparous, with a single egg laid per oviduct at a time. Detect weak electric fields generated by other organisms (e.g. potential prey) (Ref. 10311). Utilized fresh and dried-salted for human consumption, also for oil and fishmeal.

Oviparous, laying paired eggs (one per oviduct) in shallow subtidal areas, although some egg cases have been found in the deeper part of intertidal zones (Ref. 244). Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449). The egg cases are anchored to macroalgae, sea grass or sessile erect invertebrates such as poriferans, bryozoans and hydroids (Ref. 32804, 58137). The capsules have tendrils at each corner used for anchorage purposes. Egg capsule size varies according to locality and female size (Ref. 244) and ranges between 4.9-7.0 cm length and 1.5-3.0 cm width (Ref. 88837). Egg cases may be deposited throughout the year, peaking in June and July (Ref. 32804). Recent studies estimate fecundity of females from the northeast Atlantic to be at around 29-62 pups (Ref. 32804). Fully formed pups hatch after 5-11 months, depending on water temperature (Ref. 244, 32804). Newly hatched pups are about 8-10 cm in length (Ref. 78469).

Soares, K.D.A. and M.R. De Carvalho 2019 The catshark genus Scyliorhinus (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae): taxonomy, morphology and distribution. Zootaxa 4601(1):1-147. (Ref. 120402)

  Least Concern (LC); date assessed: August 31 2020

Not Evaluated

Not Evaluated

  Harmless

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Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7.2 - 16.2, mean 10.1 °C (based on 28 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00148 (0.00126 - 0.00174), b=3.20 (3.15 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.8 ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.20; tm=9; Fec=96).

Prior r = 0.35, 95% CL = 0.23 - 0.53, Based on 1 full stock assessment.

Fishing vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High vulnerability (59 of 100).

Climate vulnerability (Ref. 125649): Moderate to high vulnerability (53 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium; Reliable: based on ex-vessel price for this species.

Nutrients (Ref. 124155): Calcium = 18.1 [3.1, 101.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.642 [0.170, 1.952] mg/100g; Protein = 18.3 [15.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.207 [0.092, 0.454] g/100g; Selenium = 33.3 [10.3, 93.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 8.46 [2.86, 24.77] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.55 [0.27, 1.02] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.