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
Hound Hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Hounds can be contrasted with gundogs, that assist hunters by identifying the location of prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. They have either a powerful sense of smell or great speed. There are three types of hound, with several breeds within each type: This may not include all hound-type dogs. The international kennel club association, the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, does not have a "Hound" group and includes most hound-type dogs in "Group 6, Scenthounds and related