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 ''Mustelus'', also known as the smooth-hounds, is a genus of sharks in the family Triakidae. The name of the genus comes from the Latin word ''mustela'', meaning weasel. It should not be confused with the genus name ''Mustela'', which is used ...

'', '' Scylliogaleus'', and '' Triakis'' in the subfamily Triakinae, and the remaining genera in the subfamily Galeorhininae. Houndsharks are distinguished by possessing two large, spineless

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

s, an

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

, and oval eyes with nictitating eyelids. They are small to medium in size, ranging from in adult length. They are found throughout the world in warm and temperate waters, where they feed on fish and invertebrates on the seabed and in midwater.

Genera

* '' Furgaleus'' Whitley, 1951 (whiskery shark) * ''

Galeorhinus The school shark (''Galeorhinus galeus'') is a houndshark of the family Triakidae, and the only member of the genus ''Galeorhinus''. Common names also include tope, tope shark, snapper shark, and soupfin shark. It is found worldwide in temperate ...

'' Blainville, 1816 (school shark) * '' Gogolia'' Compagno, 1973 (sailback houndshark) * ''

Hemitriakis ''Hemitriakis'' is a genus of houndsharks in the family Triakidae. Species * '' Hemitriakis abdita'' Compagno & Stevens, 1993 (deepwater sicklefin houndshark) * '' Hemitriakis complicofasciata'' T. Takahashi & Nakaya, 2004 (ocellate topesha ...

'' Herre, 1923 * ''

Hypogaleus The blacktip tope (''Hypogaleus hyugaensis''), also known as pencil shark or blacktip topeshark, is a houndshark of the family Triakidae, and the only member of the genus ''Hypogaleus''. It is found in the deep waters of the continental shelf i ...

J. L. B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long ex ...

, 1957 (blacktip tope) * ''

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates ...

'' Compagno &

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

, 1971 * ''

'' H. F. Linck, 1790 (smooth-hound) * '' Scylliogaleus'' Boulenger, 1902 * '' Triakis'' J. P. Müller &

Henle Henle can refer to: * Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, a German physician, pathologist and anatomist (1809–1885) ** Loop of Henle in the kidney, named after Henle *Fritz Henle, a photographer, known as "Mr. Rollei" for his use of the 2.25" square for ...

, 1839

References

*
Cladogram reference
{{Authority control Triakidae Extant Paleocene first appearances Taxa named by John Edward Gray

Genera

See also

References