Spiny dogfish
Squalus acanthias
Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Spiny dogfish: 2 m.
Person-sized. Grows up to about 2 m.
A small, slim shark found in cool seas around the world, including both coasts of Canada. It travels in big groups and has a spine in front of each of its two back fins.
The weird bit
A spiny dogfish mother carries her pups for about 18 to 24 months, one of the longest pregnancies of any animal.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Coast and shallows, Open ocean, Deep sea0 to 1,978 m down
- What it eats
- Fish, squid, crabs, jellyfish and other small sea animals
- How worried are we?
- In trouble (Vulnerable)Assessed in 2019 by the IUCN Red List.