DiscoverSpeciesSharks and rays
Japanese topeshark
Hemitriakis japanica
- Usual depth4–230 m
- Water temperature10–28 °C
- Best monthsFebruary
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) harum.koh, 일부 권리 보유 (CC BY-SA), uploaded by harum.koh · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
About this species
Japanese topeshark is a species of houndshark in the family Triakidae, endemic to the north-west Pacific Ocean. It occurs from southern Japan to China, including the waters of the Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Taiwan. The species is demersal on the continental shelf from inshore waters to a depth of about 100 m and is taken as bycatch in a variety of coastal and offshore fisheries. It has been assessed globally as Endangered under the IUCN Red List criteria A2d, based on suspected population reductions driven by intensive fishing pressure across its range and overharvesting for use in Chinese traditional medicine. Common names are Japanese topeshark, Requin-há Dochizame in French, Cazón Japonés in Spanish, and Eirakubuka in Japanese.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Japanese topeshark”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 0 records
- February: 5 records
- March: 1 records
- April: 2 records
- May: 1 records
- June: 2 records
- July: 0 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 1 records
- November: 0 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 4–230 m · Deepest record: 287.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 10–28 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Japanese topeshark
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Japanischer Hundshai
- Spanish
- Cazón Japonés
- French
- Requin-há Dochizame, Requin-hâ dochizame
- Japanese
- Eirakubuka, エイラクブカ
- Simplified Chinese
- 日本半皺唇鯊, 日本半皺唇鯊(日本翅鯊, 日本灰鮫, 日本翅沙, 日本翅鯊, 沙條, 白鯊仔, 胎沙, 赤匏仔
Other scientific names: Galeorhinus japonicus, Galeus japanicus, Hemitriakis japonica
Similar species
Sicklefin Hound SharkHemitriakis falcata
- Darksnout Houndshark
Hemitriakis abdita
- Ocellate Topeshark
Hemitriakis complicofasciata
- Indonesian Houndshark
Hemitriakis indroyonoi
- whitefin topeshark
Hemitriakis leucoperiptera
Sweet williamGaleorhinus galeus
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).
- 57 open-data records from 1900 to 2019.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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