Smooth-hound

Smooth-hounds Temporal range: 56–0  Ma [1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Eocene to present
Arabian smooth-hound (Mustelus mosis)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Triakidae
Subfamily:	Triakinae
Genus:	Mustelus H. F. Linck, 1790
Type species
Squalus mustelus Linnaeus, 1758

Mustelus, also known as the smooth-hounds, is a genus of sharks in the family Triakidae. The name of the genus comes from the Latin word mustela, meaning weasel. ^[2] It should not be confused with the genus name Mustela, which is used for weasels.

A smooth-hound can grow to 159 cm (5 ft 3 in) long and weigh more than 13 kg (29 lb). ^[3]

Species

Currently, 27 recognized species are placed in this genus: ^[4]

• Mustelus albipinnis Castro-Aguirre, Antuna-Mendiola, González-Acosta & De La Cruz-Agüero, 2005 (white-margin fin houndshark)
• Mustelus andamanensis White, Arunrugstichai & Naylorn, 2021 (Andaman smooth-hound)
• Mustelus antarcticus Günther, 1870 (gummy shark)
• Mustelus asterias Cloquet, 1821 (starry smooth-hound)
• Mustelus californicus T. N. Gill, 1864 (gray smooth-hound)
• Mustelus canis Mitchill, 1815
  • M. c. canis Mitchill, 1815 (dusky smooth-hound)
  • M. c. insularis Heemstra, 1997 (Caribbean smooth-hound)
• Mustelus dorsalis T. N. Gill, 1864 (sharptooth smooth-hound)
• Mustelus fasciatus Garman, 1913 (striped smooth-hound)
• Mustelus griseus Pietschmann, 1908 (spotless smooth-hound)
• Mustelus henlei T. N. Gill, 1863 (brown smooth-hound)
• Mustelus higmani S. Springer & R. H. Lowe, 1963 (smalleye smooth-hound)
• Mustelus lenticulatus Phillipps, 1932 (spotted estuary smooth-hound)
• Mustelus lunulatus D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1882 (sicklefin smooth-hound)
• Mustelus manazo Bleeker, 1854 (starspotted smooth-hound)
• Mustelus mangalorensis Cubelio, Remya R & Kurup, 2011 (Mangalore houndshark) ^[5]
• Mustelus mento Cope, 1877 (speckled smooth-hound)
• Mustelus minicanis Heemstra, 1997 (dwarf smooth-hound)
• Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899 (Arabian smooth-hound)
• Mustelus mustelus Linnaeus, 1758 (common smooth-hound)
• Mustelus norrisi S. Springer, 1939 (narrowfin smooth-hound)
• Mustelus palumbes J. L. B. Smith, 1957 (whitespotted smooth-hound)
• Mustelus punctulatus A. Risso, 1827 (blackspotted smooth-hound)
• Mustelus ravidus W. T. White & Last, 2006 (Australian grey smooth-hound)
• Mustelus schmitti S. Springer, 1939 (narrownose smooth-hound)
• Mustelus sinusmexicanus Heemstra, 1997 (Gulf smooth-hound)
• Mustelus stevensi W. T. White & Last, 2008 (western spotted gummy shark)
• Mustelus whitneyi Chirichigno F., 1973 (humpback smooth-hound)
• Mustelus widodoi W. T. White & Last, 2006 (white-fin smooth-hound)
• Mustelus sp. not yet described (Sarawak smooth-hound)
• Mustelus sp. not yet described (Kermadec smooth-hound)

Synonyms

• Mustelus walkeri W. T. White & Last, 2008 (eastern spotted gummy shark) - now seen as a synonym of M. antarcticus

See also

• Sharks portal

• List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish

References

1. Sepkoski, J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 363: 1–560. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30.
2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Mustelus". FishBase . April 2015 version.
3. Kindersley, Dorling (2005). Animal. New York City: DK Publishing. ISBN   0-7894-7764-5.
4. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Mustelus". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 28 March 2025.
5. Cubelio, S.S., Remya R & Kurup, B.M. (2011): A new species of Mustelus (Family: Triakidae) from Indian EEZ. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences, 40 (1): 28-31.