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
Humpback smooth-hound 45°S. Its depth range is between but it is most common between . It is found near the seabed, often on rocky shores, where it feeds on small fish and crustaceans such as crabs and mantis shrimps. It is viviparous and the females bear litters of five to ten young which are about long when born. The humpback smooth-hound is fished for human consumption in Chile but more particularly in Peru, where it is more common. Along with the spotted houndshark ("Triakis maculata") and the speckled smooth-hound ("Mustelus mento") it is known as "tollo" in its local fisheries, and of