Birdbeak Dogfish

Deania calceus

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Near threatened

Usual depth328–1,040 m
Water temperature8–21 °C
Best monthsSeptember
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Duarte Frade, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The birdbeak dogfish is a dogfish shark of the family Centrophoridae found in the Pacific Ocean around Honshū, Japan, southern Australia, New Zealand, and Chile, and in the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland south to the Cape of Good Hope.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Birdbeak dogfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 43 records
February: 28 records
March: 17 records
April: 85 records
May: 81 records
June: 70 records
July: 30 records
August: 93 records
September: 1,230 records
October: 381 records
November: 26 records
December: 18 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 328–1,040 m · Deepest record: 3,821.5 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 9,937 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–21 °C

6–8 °C: 5 records
8–10 °C: 11 records
10–12 °C: 64 records
12–14 °C: 271 records
14–16 °C: 317 records
16–18 °C: 150 records
18–20 °C: 27 records
20–22 °C: 4 records

Names and classification

English: Birdbeak Dogfish, Brier Shark, Shovelnose Dogfish, Shovelnose Spiny Dogfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Vogelschnabel-Dornhai
Spanish: Lija, quelvacho espátula, Tollo pajarito, Tollo picudo, visera
French: Squale savate
Japanese: Heratsunozame, ヘラツノザメ
Simplified Chinese: 刺鯊, 喙吻田氏鯊, 地風鬼, 沙魚, 篦吻棘鮫, 篦吻田氏鯊

Other scientific names: Acanthidium aciculatum, Acanthidium calceus, Acanthidium rostratum, Centrophorus crepidalbus, Centrophorus kaikourae, Deania aciculata, Deania calcea, Deania eglantina, Deania rostrata

Similar species

Arrowhead dogfish
Deania profundorum
Longsnout dogfish
Deania quadrispinosa
Rough longnose dogfish
Deania hystricosa
Little gulper shark
Centrophorus uyato
Gulper shark
Centrophorus granulosus
Dumb gulper shark
Centrophorus harrissoni

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
19,285 open-data records from 1901 to 2021.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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