Sweet william

About this species

The school shark is a houndshark of the family Triakidae, and the only living member of the genus Galeorhinus. Common names also include tope, tope shark, snapper shark, and soupfin shark. It is found worldwide in temperate seas at depths down to about 800 m (2,600 ft). It can grow to nearly 2 m long. It feeds both in midwater and near the seabed, and its reproduction is ovoviviparous. This shark is caught in fisheries for its flesh, its fins, and its liver, which has a very high vitamin A content. The IUCN has classified this species as critically endangered in its Red List of Threatened Species.

Text from the Wikipedia article “School shark”, 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: 661 records
February: 714 records
March: 739 records
April: 948 records
May: 1,008 records
June: 1,114 records
July: 2,051 records
August: 5,881 records
September: 6,633 records
October: 3,895 records
November: 1,608 records
December: 876 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–101 m · Deepest record: 1,057.5 m

0–10 m: 8,373 records
10–20 m: 4,852 records
20–30 m: 435 records
30–40 m: 257 records
40–50 m: 179 records
50–60 m: 192 records
60–70 m: 148 records
70–80 m: 154 records
80–90 m: 174 records
90–100 m: 143 records
100–110 m: 115 records
110+ m: 1,556 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–20 °C

10–12 °C: 63 records
12–14 °C: 282 records
14–16 °C: 320 records
16–18 °C: 176 records
18–20 °C: 31 records
20–22 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Zara, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Caroline Voget, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Charles Swift, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Mark Anderson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Arnim Littek, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Arnim Littek, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Sweet william, Tope, Tope shark, Hundshai, Penny's dog, Schnapper shark, School Shark, Sharpie shark, Snapper Shark, soupfin shark, sweet william, Sweet William shark, tope, Tope oil shark, Tope school shark, tope shark, Tope shark, Tope, Tope soupfin shark, Vitamin shark

Names in 3 more languages

German: Australischer Hundshai, gemeine Meersau, grosser Hundshai, großer Hundshai, Hundshai
Spanish: Aceitero, Bostrich, Bostrio, Cacao, Caçó, Cámari, Cazon, cazón, Cazón, Cuero, Gat, gazón, Musola corallo, tiburón aceitoso, Tollo, Tollos
French: Cagnot, Canicule, Chien de mer, Chien hâ, Emissole, Gat, Hâ, Halt, Haut, Lamie, Lamiola, milandre, Milandre, Pal, Palloun, Pal or Pallon or Palloun, Paroun, requin à grands ailerons, requin-hâ, Requin-hâ, Requin-hã, Touille

Other scientific names: Carcharhinus cyrano, Eugaleus galeus, Galeorhinus australis, Galeorhinus chilensis, Galeorhinus galeo, Galeorhinus vitaminicus, Galeorhinus zyopterus, Galeus australis, Galeus canis, Galeus chilensis, Galeus communis, Galeus linnei, Galeus molinae, Galeus nilssoni, Galeus vulgaris, Galeus zyopterus, Notogaleus australis, Notogaleus rhinophanes, Squalus galeus, Squalus rhinophanes

Similar species

Sicklefin Hound Shark
Hemitriakis falcata
Japanese topeshark
Hemitriakis japanica
Mack's Whiskery Shark
Furgaleus macki
Gogolia filewoodi
Darksnout Houndshark
Hemitriakis abdita
Ocellate Topeshark
Hemitriakis complicofasciata

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).
92,069 open-data records from 1907 to 2024.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.