---
title: "Small-spotted Catshark"
description: "Scyliorhinus canicula — Fish. The small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula), also known as the sandy dogfish, lesser-spotted dogfish, rough-hound or morgay (in Scotland and Cornwall), is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/small-spotted-catshark
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Small-spotted Catshark

> Scyliorhinus canicula — Fish. The small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula), also known as the sandy dogfish, lesser-spotted dogfish, rough-hound or morgay (in Scotland and Cornwall), is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae.

- Scientific name: *Scyliorhinus canicula*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 5227
- Wikidata: [Q84822](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q84822)
- iNaturalist taxon: [112372](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/112372)

## Names

- en: Small-spotted Catshark
- de: Kleingefleckter Katzenhai
- es: Pintarroja
- fr: Petite roussette
- nl: Hondshaai
- pl: Rekinek psi

## Countries with the most observations

GB (2628), PT (491), ES (462), FR (460), IE (296), NL (142), GR (39), IM (39), BE (31), DE (25), DK (23), MA (22)

## Summary

The small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula), also known as the sandy dogfish, lesser-spotted dogfish, rough-hound or morgay (in Scotland and Cornwall), is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found on the continental shelves and the uppermost continental slopes off the coasts of Norway and the British Isles south to Senegal and in the Mediterranean, between latitudes 63° N and 12° N. It can grow up to a length of 1 m (3 ft 3 in), and it can weigh more than 2 kg (4.4 lb). It is found primarily over sandy, gravelly, or muddy bottoms from depths of a few metres down to 400 m (1,310 ft). S. canicula is…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-spotted_catshark

## Photo

![Small-spotted Catshark](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/small-spotted-catshark/medium.jpg)

Photo: Eli · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/206055302

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/small-spotted-catshark?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).