Hardnose Houndshark
Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899: 8, pl. 7 (fig. 3 + a–d). Syntypes: ZMB 4501 (1). Type locality: Red Sea.
Local synonymy: Mustelus mosis: Bass et al., 1986: 82, fig. 9.26; Compagno, 1988a: 223; Compagno et al., 1989: 58, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 119; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 64; Compagno et al., 2005: 275, fig., pl. 48; Ebert et al., 2013a: 421, fig., pl. 58; NPOA, 2013: 44; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Weigmann, 2016: 885.
South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 6229, SAIAB 7979, SAIAB 9499, SAIAB 10739, SAIAB 19387.
South African distribution: KZN from about Durban to the border with Mozambique.
Remarks: Van der Elst (1981) tentatively identified this species as Mustelus canis (non Mitchill), a western North Atlantic species, but Bass et al. (1986) subsequently identified it as M. mosis. Although its range in South African waters is only from about Durban north to Kosi Bay, it appears to have a very large regional range, occurring into the northern Indian Ocean (assuming it is the same species). A detailed revision of the WIO Mustelus is needed to clarify the status of this and other species in the region.
Conservation status: NT (2019).