📸 PhotoPhoto: NOAA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons Source
Pacific spiny dogfish
Squalus suckleyi (Pacific spiny dogfish · アブラツノザメ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum weight of about 10 kg is similar to a 10 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 The adult body length of 2.5–3.5 feet (about 0.8–1.1 m) reported by NOAA is about the length of a long umbrella (about 1 m) (Comparison).
- 💡 NOAA states that this shark can live for over 80 years, which is longer than the average human lifespan (NOAA Fisheries).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Pacific spiny dogfish is a small shark living near the bottom of cold North Pacific waters, distributed from Korea and Japan to Alaska and southern Baja California, Mexico. It migrates to follow its preferred water temperatures.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is slender with a narrow, pointed snout, gray with white spots on the upper side and white on the underside. There is a sharp spine in front of each of its two dorsal fins.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is an opportunistic hunter that does not target specific prey and eats mostly fish. Because it lives a very long time (over 80 years) and grows slowly, females reach reproductive maturity at an average age of 35 and males at around 19.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed on the National List of Species of Korea, and FishBase includes Korea in its North Pacific range.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/195488/2382480
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6ZFP3
- • iucnredlist.org — 2382480
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000505274 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000505274
- • wikidata.org — Q5026048
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Spiny dogfish.jpg
- • fishbase.se — Squalus-suckleyi.html
- • fisheries.noaa.gov — pacific-spiny-dogfish
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Tessa Rehill · CC BY 4.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.