Smooth hound

Mustelus mustelus

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Endangered

Usual depth22–110 m
Water temperature10–28 °C
Best monthsSeptember and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Ben Jobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The common smooth-hound is a houndshark of the family Triakidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the British Isles to South Africa, and in the Mediterranean Sea, Madeira, and the Canary Islands at depths ranging from 5 to 625 metres, although they usually stay at depths of 5 to 50 m. While they can grow to 200 centimetres, their usual maximum size is 150 cm (60 in). They commonly grow to 100–120 cm (40–50 in), with a birth length of around 35 cm (10 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Common smooth-hound”, 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: 129 records
February: 211 records
March: 64 records
April: 160 records
May: 273 records
June: 217 records
July: 104 records
August: 161 records
September: 563 records
October: 163 records
November: 408 records
December: 185 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 22–110 m · Deepest record: 437 m

0–10 m: 40 records
10–20 m: 108 records
20–30 m: 269 records
30–40 m: 377 records
40–50 m: 278 records
50–60 m: 189 records
60–70 m: 62 records
70–80 m: 58 records
80–90 m: 60 records
90–100 m: 31 records
100–110 m: 38 records
110+ m: 193 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–28 °C

8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 149 records
12–14 °C: 159 records
14–16 °C: 6 records
16–18 °C: 49 records
18–20 °C: 164 records
20–22 °C: 34 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 13 records
26–28 °C: 0 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Robin Fokker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Selim Türeli, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ben Jobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) biodiversitygr, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) biodiversitygr, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Smooth hound, Smoothhound, Smooth-hound, Sweet william, Common Smooth-hound, Common Smoothhound, Common Smooth-Hound Shark, Gray mouth dog, Smooth dogfish, smooth hound, smooth-hound, smoothhound, smooth shark, Stellate smooth-hound, sweet william, Sweet William

Names in 3 more languages

German: gemeiner südlicher Glatthai, Gewöhnlicher Glatthai, Glatthai, grauer Glatthai, Südlicher Glatthai
Spanish: Boca blanca, cazón, musola, Musola, Musola gavatia, Musola lisa, Musola pintada, Musola vera
French: Chien de mer, emissole, emissole lisse, émissole lisse, Émissole lisse, Émissole lisse commune, Galéos, Gat roumillon, hâ, Lentillat, Missole, Mustèle vulgaire, Palloun

Other scientific names: Galeus laevis, Mustellus levis, Mustelus equestris, Mustelus laevis, Mustelus vulgaris, Squalus mustelus

Similar species

Australian Smooth Hound
Mustelus antarcticus
Gummy Shark
Mustelus lenticulatus
Starspotted smooth-hound
Mustelus manazo
Western Spotted Gummy Shark
Mustelus stevensi
Whitefin Smooth-hound
Mustelus widodoi
Andaman Smoothhound
Mustelus andamanensis

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).
4,776 open-data records from 1758 to 2021.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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