Black dogfish to the clade formed by the granular dogfish ("C. granulatum") and combtooth dogfish ("C. nigrum"). The black dogfish is a common species, with a wide but discontinuous distribution in the temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean; its range abuts, but does not extend into, the Arctic Ocean. In the northeast, it occurs from Iceland to Sierra Leone, including the Faroe Islands, southern Norway, and the Rockall Trough and Porcupine Seabight off Ireland. In the northwest, it is found from southern Greenland and Baffin Island to Virginia, being particularly abundant in the Laurentian Channel, and may occur further south to the
Rockall Information request in 2012, the British Government stated that, "The islet of Rockall is part of the UK: specifically it forms part of Scotland under the Island of Rockall Act 1972. No other state has disputed our claim to the islet." In Scotland it is part of South Harris Parish. Responding to a written parliamentary question in 2016, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs said: "The UK claims sovereignty over Rockall and has sought to formally annex it under its 1972 Island of Rockall Act. While Ireland has not recognised British sovereignty over Rockall, it has never sought to claim