Mexican horn shark
Heterodontus mexicanus Taylor & Castro-Aguirre, 1972
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Mexican hornshark (Heterodontus mexicanus) is a bullhead shark of the family Heterodontidae. This shark is grey-brown in color, with black spots scattered on the fins and body. It has a cylindrical trunk, conical head, and small spiracles behind the eyes. The snout of the Mexican hornshark is very round and blunt. Like all members of the order Heterodontiformes, this shark has fin spines in front of both of its dorsal fins. The first dorsal fin originates before the pectoral fins, while the second dorsal fin originates behind the pelvic fins. The Mexican hornshark reaches a maximum length around 70 cm, but usually reaches between 50 and 60 cm on average. Young hornsharks hatch around 14 cm.
Wikipedia contributors, Mexican hornshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:15:58.800388+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heterodontus mexicanus Taylor & Castro-Aguirre, 1972
- Name authority
- Taylor & Castro-Aguirre, 1972
- Common name
- Mexican horn shark
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Heterodontiformes
- Family
- Heterodontidae
- Genus
- Heterodontus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderGaleomorphi
- orderHeterodontiformes
- familyHeterodontidae Gray, 1851
- genusHeterodontus Blainville, 1816
- speciesHeterodontus mexicanus Taylor & Castro-Aguirre, 1972
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Heterodontus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| barred bull-head sharkHeterodontus zebra (Gray, 1831) | HeterodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cestracion sharkHeterodontus japonicus Miklouho-Maclay & MacLeay, 1884 | HeterodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Heterodontus omanensis Baldwin, 2005 | HeterodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Taylor, L. R. Jr.; Castro-Aguirre, J. L. (1972). Heterodontus mexicanus, a new horn shark from the Golfo de California. Anales de La Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, México, v. 19: 123–143. [In English, Spanish summary.]. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6M4RK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.