shortnose spurdog
Squalus megalops (MacLeay, 1881)
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.
Squalus megalops
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Open encyclopedia reference
The shortnose spurdog (Squalus megalops) also known as the piked spurdog is a small shark located primarily off the coast of Southern Australia and South Africa. The shortnose spurdog's size is dependent on the sex of the animal. The female shortnose spurdog is consistently larger than the male shortnose spurdog and will typically measure out to about 56.41 cm (1.85 ft) while the male shortnose spurdog will typically only measure out to about 44.36 cm in length (1.46 ft) which means the female shortnose spurdog is over 10 cm longer than the male shortnose spurdog. Some females can even measure up to 78 cm which is over 2.5 feet long. The life span of spurdog's can be quite long with females typically living longer than males. The average life span of a female shortnose spurdog is 0–29 years old while the male life span is 0–26 though it is estimated that a female can live up to 46 years while a male can only live up to 33.
Wikipedia contributors, Shortnose spurdog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:46:35.561738+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Squalus megalops (MacLeay, 1881)
- Name authority
- (MacLeay, 1881)
- Common name
- shortnose spurdog
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Squaliformes
- Family
- Squalidae
- Genus
- Squalus
- 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
- superorderSqualomorphi
- orderSqualiformes Compagno, 1973
- familySqualidae de Blainville, 1816
- genusSqualus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesSqualus megalops (MacLeay, 1881)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Squalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Squalus bahiensis Viana, Carvalho & Gomes, 2016 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus bassi Viana, Carvalho & Ebert, 2017 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Japanese shortnose spurdogSqualus brevirostris Tanaka, 1917 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Longnose spurdogSqualus blainville (Risso, 1827) | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus acutipinnis Regan, 1908 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus altipinnis Last, White & Stevens, 2007 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus albifrons Last, White & Stevens, 2007 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus hemipinnis White, Last & Yearsley, 2007 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus chloroculus Last, White & Motomura, 2007 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus crassispinus Last, Edmunds & Yearsley, 2007 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cuban dogfishSqualus cubensis Howell Rivero, 1936 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Squalus mahia Viana, Lisher & Carvalho, 2017 | SqualidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Squalis megalops (MacLeay, 1881) (MacLeay, 1881) | synonym |
| Squalus probatovi Myagkov & Kondyurin, 1986 Myagkov & Kondyurin, 1986 | synonym |
| Acanthias megalops MacLeay, 1881 MacLeay, 1881 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105925 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.
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:6ZFN4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.