The spotted houndshark, ''Triakis maculata'', is a

houndshark Houndsharks, the Triakidae, are a family of ground sharks, consisting of about 40 species in nine genera. In some classifications, the family is split into two subfamilies, with '' Mustelus'', '' Scylliogaleus'', and ''Triakis'' in the subfamily ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Triakidae found in tropical waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. It usually grows to a length around . The reproduction of this houndshark is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

, with a litter of 14 pups being found in one female with a birth size of . Their diet is believed to consist mainly of

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

Description

The spotted houndshark grows to a length around or exceptionally . It is a robust species with a rounded snout, widely separated, lobed nasal flaps, and long upper lip grooves that extend as far as the junction of the jawbones. The teeth have straight, erect cusps and are not blade-like. The first dorsal fin has a sloping posterior margin and the pectoral fins are broadly falcate (long and curved). Sometimes the body is uniform in colour but more often it is finely spotted with black.

Distribution

The spotted houndshark is found on the continental shelves in the eastern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, from the Galapagos Islands and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

southwards to the north of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, between

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

s 0° and 30° S.

Status

The spotted houndshark is caught for human consumption by gillnet, and sometimes by trawling, in artisan fisheries mainly in Peru, along with the humpback smooth-hound (''Mustelus whitneyi'') and the

speckled smooth-hound The speckled smooth-hound (''Mustelus mento'') is a houndshark of the family Triakidae. It is found on the continental shelf of the eastern Pacific, between latitudes 0° and 54° S, at depths between . It can reach a length of . Collectively ...

(''M. mento''), collectively known (in Spanish) as "tollo" in local fisheries. Of these three fish species, the spotted houndshark is probably less common than the other two and its total numbers seem to be declining. Some control over fishing has been instituted by the introduction of a minimum size requirement, but this has been set rather low in relation to the size of the fish at sexual maturity. The IUCN has rated the conservation status of this fish as being "Critically Endangered". With the decline in the main species sought (''M. whitneyi''), fishing pressure has decreased and further monitoring is required to assess whether the population trend will be reversed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q32460 spotted houndshark Ovoviviparous fish Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish of Peru Western South American coastal fauna Galápagos Islands coastal fauna spotted houndshark