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
Barak hound gun dog in the 1890s. "Local hunters, wanting to produce an efficient scent hound, developed this breed in the nineteenth century, using the available stock of dogs." The early type of today's smaller Istrian Shorthaired Hound may also have contributed to the Bosnian Coarse-haired Hound. The Bosnian Coarse-haired Hound was first recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1965 under the name of "Illyrian Hound". The name was changed to more accurately describe its area of origin in Bosnia. The breed is in Group 6, Scenthounds, Section 1.1 Large-sized Hounds, and is breed number 155. It is also recognised by