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
Speckled smooth-hound peduncle is short and the lower lobe of the tail fin is narrow and slightly curved. The maximum length is about with maturity being reached by males at about and females at about . Adults are grey or greyish-brown above and paler below, liberally speckled with white spots. Juveniles have dark bars. The speckled smooth-hound is found off the Pacific coast of South America, including the Galapagos Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands. Its range extends from the Isla Lobos de Tierra in Peru to the southern tip of Chile. It is a demersal fish and swims close to the