Houndshark

Houndsharks Temporal range:
Leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Subdivision:	Selachimorpha
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Triakidae J. E. Gray, 1851

The Triakidae or houndsharks are a family of ground sharks, consisting of about 40 species in nine genera. In some classifications, the family is split into two subfamilies, with the genera Mustelus, Scylliogaleus and Triakis in the subfamily Triakinae, and the remainders in the subfamily Galeorhininae.

Houndsharks are distinguished by possessing two large, spineless dorsal fins, an anal fin and oval eyes with nictitating eyelids. They are small to medium in size, ranging from 37 to 220 cm (1.21 to 7.22 ft) in adult length. They are found throughout the world in warm and temperate waters, where they feed on small fish and invertebrates on the seabed and in midwater.

Genera

• Furgaleus Whitley, 1951 (whiskery shark)
• Galeorhinus Blainville, 1816 (school shark)
• Gogolia Compagno, 1973 (sailback houndshark)
• Hemitriakis Herre, 1923
• Hypogaleus J. L. B. Smith, 1957 (blacktip tope)
• Iago Compagno & Springer, 1971
• Mustelus H. F. Linck, 1790 (smooth-hound)
• Scylliogaleus Boulenger, 1902
• Triakis J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839

See also

• List of sharks

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Triakidae" in FishBase. November 2005 version.
• Cladogram reference