Slender smooth-hound variety of benthic fishes and invertebrates, and also scavenges; human garbage has been reported among its stomach contents. Small bony fishes, lanternfishes in particular, are the most important prey type, followed by decapod crustaceans. Cephalopods, gastropods, isopods, brittle stars, dogfish sharks, and cartilaginous fish egg capsules may also be consumed. On the Challenger Plateau, cephalopods are an important food source for juveniles under long. Like the false catshark, the slender smooth-hound exhibits aplacental viviparity with oophagy, in a form different from that in the mackerel sharks. Mature females have a single functional ovary, on the right side, and two functional
Starry smooth-hound least and prefers places where the seabed is sand or gravel. The starry smooth-hound mostly feeds on crustaceans, such as crabs, lobsters, and slipper lobsters, and molluscs. It matures at a length of about . It is an ovoviviparous fish, retaining its eggs in its oviduct where the young are nourished by the egg yolk and the oviduct's secretions. Seven to 15 young are in a litter, and they are about long at birth. The IUCN, in its Red List of Threatened Species lists the starry smooth-hound as "Least Concern". The justification for this is that it has a wide