Common smooth-hound on its underneath. It is often confused with the starry smooth-hound which has white spots on its back. The starry smooth-hound can often have faded spots which leads to misidentification. Another shark it is often confused with is the tope shark although the common smooth hound has a larger second dorsal fin. Due to the similarities between the common smooth-hound and other sharks, misidentification occurred for a long time. The common smooth-hound has two dorsal fins, an anal fin, a pair of pectoral fins, a pair of pelvic fins and a heterocercal tail. All of these fins help stabilise the
Starry smooth-hound Starry smooth-hound The starry smooth-hound ("Mustelus asterias") is a houndshark of the family Triakidae. It is found on the continental shelves of the northeast Atlantic, between latitudes 61° N and 16° N, from the surface to a depth of . It can grow up to a length of . The starry smooth-hound grows to a length of about . It is grey or greyish-brown with a scattering of small white spots on its dorsal (upper) surface and white on its ventral (under) surface. It is a long, lean fish with a somewhat rounded snout and rows of shallowly projecting teeth.