Author: Risso, 1826
Mustelus punctulatus Risso, 1826
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Mustelus punctulatus Risso, 1827 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: snout gently rounded; inter-nostril distance 1.1-1.2 times nostril width; upper labial folds longer than lowers. Teeth asymmetrical, small accessory cusplet present in young. Dorsal fins with dark trailing edge, the ceratotrichia bare on margin and giving a frayed appearance; second dorsal fin similar to first, but smaller; pectoral fins broadly triangular; weak ridges extending less than halfway along denticles, which are much longer than wide. Colour: grey to brown above, with small dark blotches, white below; trailing edges of dorsal fins dark. Size: mature at 50-60 cm TL.
Habitat: coastal. Food: fishes and crabs. Reproduction: perhaps viviparous, young born at 30 cm TL.
Distribution: Morocco to southern Portugal and throughout Mediterranean. Elsewhere, southward to Spanish Sahara.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Quignard and Capape, 1972: 26 | Capapé, 1974a: 331.