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Creature Profile
The Cape Shark, also known as the spiny dogfish, is a small, sleek shark with a long, pointed nose and a slim body. Its back is grayish-brown, and its belly is white, helping it blend into the ocean when viewed from above or below. It has two dorsal fins on its back, each with a sharp spine for defense. Unlike most sharks, the Cape Shark doesn't have flashy stripes or spots, but its smooth skin feels like fine sandpaper.
Cape Sharks live in cool, shallow waters near coasts and are found all over the world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. They like to stay in groups, called schools, often with hundreds of other sharks! These sharks give birth to live babies, called pups, instead of laying eggs. The mother carries her pups inside her for almost two years--the longest pregnancy of any shark species! When the pups are born, they are fully formed and ready to swim on their own.
Cape Sharks are threatened because people have caught too many of them for food and to use their liver oil in products. Over-fishing has made it hard for their populations to recover, especially because it takes them so long to have babies. To help, governments are setting fishing limits and protecting areas where these sharks live, giving them a chance to grow their numbers and thrive again.
Wikipedia Article
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Wikipedia Article Copyright Notice: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Spiny dogfish". |
November 16, 2024
Mugo, C. R. 2025. "Earth's Endangered Creatures - Cape Shark Facts" (Online). Accessed 4/14/2026 at https://earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?sp=13133&ID=1.
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