What dead sea creature is this?

[Simbu]

I'm pretty sure this is a young shark of some kind, does anyone know what species?

Found on a Pembrokeshire beach yesterday!

[Silent1]

Dogfish?

[P-Jay]

Yep that's a Dogfish, without scale it's hard to tell, but they don't get much bigger than that.

They're a type of shark and incredibly prevalent off the coast of Wales - basically if you go boat / beach fishing off near there - if you're lucky enough to catch 10 things, 8 of them will be Dogfish.

[The Beaver King]

Silent1 said:

Dogfish?

Yeah, looks like a Dogfish.

[80quattro]

The Beaver King said:

Silent1 said:

Dogfish?

Yeah, looks like a Dogfish.

I reckon it's a dogfish.

[Adenauer]

I reckon it's a Rock Salmon

[BoRED S2upid]

Smoothhound. Head is more pointy that a dogfish and it's got more fins towards the end of its tail.

[Eric Mc]

It's not dead.

It's stunned.

It's pining for the mudflats of Morecombe Bay.

[JRewing]

It wouldn't be doing much more growing at that size. It's probably fully grown.

Don't mess with it - from experience the skin can do a bit of cutting itself!

[Grandpad58]

80quattro said:

The Beaver King said:

Silent1 said:

Dogfish?

Yeah, looks like a Dogfish.

I reckon it's a dogfish.

I say a Dogfish.

[Konrod]

Yep, a Dogfish. You won't find one in the Dead Sea though as it's too salty for most creatures.

[Simbu]

Thanks for the replies!

Apart from giving it a cursory prod with my foot we didn't touch it. It looked like the seagulls had already had a go at it - there was a gaping hole where its gills used to be.

[Marvib]

Grandpad58 said:

80quattro said:

The Beaver King said:

Silent1 said:

Dogfish?

Yeah, looks like a Dogfish.

I reckon it's a dogfish.

I say a Dogfish.

Your all wrong it's a catfish

[Triumph Man]

80quattro said:

The Beaver King said:

Silent1 said:

Dogfish?

Yeah, looks like a Dogfish.

I reckon it's a dogfish.

Didier Dogfishba?

[Telomerase]

Scyliorhinus canicula

[Silent1]

Marvib said:

Your all wrong it's a catfish

It's catshark you 'tard!

[digger the goat]

BoRED S2upid said:

Smoothhound. Head is more pointy that a dogfish and it's got more fins towards the end of its tail.

+1

[paintman]

It isn't a smoothhound. Dorsal fin much too far back.
They look like this:
http://www.sharktrust.org/en/factsheets/42/common-...

Its a dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula aka catshark, amongst other names)
http://www.sharktrust.org/en/factsheets/47/smallsp...

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 22 April 20:55

[Graculus]

Lesser Spotted Dogfish as it's commonly known. I've caught approximately eleventy million of them over the years without ever once targeting them.

If you don't handle them properly they can give you horrible skin abrasions as they wrap their tails around your wrist or forearm. One shark where the tail is more dangerous than the pointy end!

As a kid I remember commercial fishermen drying dogfish skin outdoors to then use as a sort of sandpaper.