---
title: "Zwelhaai"
description: "Cephaloscyllium ventriosum — Vissen. The swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) is a catshark in the family Scyliorhinidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/swellshark
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Zwelhaai

> Cephaloscyllium ventriosum — Vissen. The swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) is a catshark in the family Scyliorhinidae.

- Scientific name: *Cephaloscyllium ventriosum*
- Category: `fish` (Vissen)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 675
- Wikidata: [Q2639496](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2639496)
- iNaturalist taxon: [59223](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59223)

## Names

- en: Swellshark
- de: Schwellhai
- es: Pejegato globo
- nl: Zwelhaai

## Countries with the most observations

US (557), MX (7)

## Summary

The swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) is a catshark in the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean from between central California to southern Mexico, with an additional population off the coast of Chile. They are known to have brown and white spots along with broad heads. As a defense, the swell shark is able to expand to approximately double its regular size by swallowing water. They depend on electrical signals to find prey, camouflaging in rocky crevices.

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

## Photo

![Zwelhaai](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/swellshark/medium.jpg)

Photo: Emily Langdon-Lassagne · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191810633

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/swellshark?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).