Squalidae, more commonly known as dogfish, dog sharks, or spiny dogfish, [3] are one of several families of sharks categorized under Squaliformes, making it the second largest order of sharks, numbering 119 species across 7 families. [4]

cookiecutter shark, either of two species of living sharks classified as part of the genus Isistius, in the family Dalatiidae, named for their tendency to excise cookie cutter-shaped plugs of flesh from the larger marine animals they feed upon.

The spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish[4] is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order. [5]

A representative squaloid, the Spiny Dogfish or "Spurdog" (Squalus acanthias) — probably the world's best known (if not most beloved) shark — showing the dorsal fin spines, transverse mouth, and lack of an anal fin characteristic of the group.

Squalidae, more commonly known as dogfish, dog sharks, or spiny dogfish, are one of several families of sharks categorized under Squaliformes, making it the second largest order of sharks, numbering 119 species across 7 families.

Access images and fact sheets of the squalid fishes on the site. These include the Dogfish Sharks and Dogfishes.

Selected Characters: Both dorsal fins with spines; no anal fin. This is a widely distributed family of small sharks. They are found in both the northern and southern hemispheres from the tropics to boreal latitudes. There are ten species in the Squalidae.

All squaloids possess the following characteristics: Since only one species of spiny dogfish is regularly encountered by divers, for our purposes here, characteristics of the family Squalidae can be considered the same as for the squaloid order. Size: average length 2 to 3 feet (60 to 100 centimetres); maximum 5.5 feet (160 centimetres)

The Squalidae are a wide-ranging, benthopelagic family with two genera and 33 species recognized globally. The family shows a high degree of endemism, with only one species (Squalus acanthias) known to occur in multiple geographic regions. One genus and a single species occur in the NEP.

Squalidae Name Synonyms Spinacidae Homonyms Squalidae Common names Pighajfamilien in Danish cazones aguijones in Spanish chiens de mer in French dogfish shark in English dogfish sharks in English dogfish sharks in English piikkihait in Finnish spiny dogfishes in English pigghajar in Swedish pigghåfamilien in Nynorsk, Norwegian