Dogfish, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Rough Hound

Family Scyliorhinidae

REMARKS Maximum length to about 100 cm. Very common in British waters. The colour is normally a light or medium shade of brown, with small darker brown spots.

A third but inferior member of the family, Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, which is shown below, is identifiable by the bold pattern of blotches on its sides and by its having a mouth which is black inside. The French call it chien espagnol. Its official Italian name is boccanera or boccanegra, referring to the black mouth. As usual, there are lots of other regional names in Italy, including moiella at Genoa, pesce ’mpiso at Naples, and some splendidly Dantesque names in Sicily (vokke de ’mfierne at Taranto and pisci d’infernu at Palermo).