Lesser Spotted Dogfish

• reproducciónIts eggs come in a stiff case with long tendrils, which it uses to anchor them to seaweed or rocks on the sea floor.
• Its eggs are the mermaid's purses that wash up on beaches: translucent horny capsules with long tendrils at the corners that the female tangles in seaweed and sea fans, and in which the embryo develops in full view over nine months.
• It is the most abundant shark on the European coasts and one of the few that is not threatened, thanks to its relatively fast reproduction and its tolerance of fishing.
• It is an important laboratory model in shark developmental biology, precisely because its eggs are transparent and allow the growth of the embryo to be watched without intervening.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - cartilaginous skeleton (fish)

Habitat and environment

Sandy, muddy and gravel bottoms of the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, down to 400 metres

Birth weight

9 - 10 cm at hatching

Size at birth

9-10 cm on hatching; the eggs are the 'mermaid's purses' anchored to seaweed and gorgonians

Sexual maturity

7.6 years

Gestation / incubation

9 months of egg incubation

Litter / clutch size

45.5 (average)

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Scyliorhinus canicula

Best time: All year round on sand and gravel bottoms of the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, mostly at night.