Smooth Houndshark
Squalus mustelus Linnaeus, 1758: 235. No known types. Type locality: Mediterranean Sea and Northeastern Atlantic [original: “in Oceano Europe”].
Local synonymy: Mustelus laevis: Gilchrist, 1902: 163 (in part, including Triakis megalopterus); Thompson, 1914: 142 (in part, including Triakis megalopterus); Barnard, 1925: 29 (in part, including Triakis megalopterus). Mustelus manazo: Smith, 1949a: 45 (in part?); Smith, 1957c: 357 (in part?); Smith, 1965: 45 (in part?). Mustelus punctulatus: Smith, 1949a: 45 (in part). Mustelus canis: Fowler, 1936: 61 (in part); Fowler, 1941: 204 (in part); Smith, 1949a: 46 (in part); Smith, 1965: 46 (in part). Mustelus mustelus: Smith, 1949a: 46 (in part); Compagno, 1984b: 419, fig.; Bass et al., 1986: 82, fig. 9.27; Compagno, 1988a: 223; Compagno et al., 1989: 58, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 85; Compagno, 1999: 119; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 64; Compagno et al., 2005: 275, fig., pl. 46; Ebert et al., 2013a: 422, fig., pl. 56; Mann, 2013: 289; NPOA, 2013: 44; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Compagno, 2016: 1279; Weigmann, 2016: 885.
South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 2741, SAIAB 2884, SAIAB 6198, SAIAB 6259, SAIAB 6261, SAIAB 6262, SAIAB 7848, SAIAB 10609, SAIAB 10725, SAIAB 11929, SAIAB 12146, SAIAB 12330, SAIAB 12352, SAIAB 19393, SAIAB 19790, SAIAB 26445, SAIAB 30333, SAIAB 38495, SAIAB 46917, SAIAB 46918, SAIAB 46919, SAIAB 48503, SAIAB 48577, SAIAB 51204, SAIAB 56971, SAIAB 98651, SAIAB 200110, SAIAB 200627, SAIAB 202975.
South African distribution: The Orange River (NC) to KZN.
Remarks: A very common coastal houndshark, it has a very wide range, occurring from South Africa to European Atlantic waters and into the Mediterranean Sea. Recent molecular research has revealed that at least two subpopulations exist for this species, one west to the west of Cape Agulhas and another to the east (Maduna et al., 2016). During a long-term series of bottom trawl surveys by the F.R.S. Africana this species was never encountered at depths> 50 m (Compagno et al., 1991). It is one of the most common species caught locally by shore anglers.
Conservation status: VU (2009).