Head to head
Tope vs Spurdog
Tope
VS Spurdog
The tope and the spurdog are two small European sharks that sea anglers know well, and both have suffered badly from commercial fishing.
| Tope | Spurdog | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Galeorhinus galeus | Squalus acanthias |
| Family | A houndshark, with a slender grey body and a long snout | A dogfish shark, slim and grey with white spots |
| Size | Usually around 1.5 m long | A small shark, around a metre long |
| Teeth and spines | Triangular, saw-edged teeth | A sharp, mildly venomous spine in front of each of its two dorsal fins, and no anal fin |
| Movement | Moves in schools and makes long migrations, with tagged fish crossing entire seas and oceans | Hunts in packs for fish such as herring and mackerel |
| Young | Gives birth to live pups in shallow nursery areas in bays and estuaries | Carries its young for around two years before giving birth to live pups |
| Fishing history | Fished intensively in the twentieth century for the vitamin A in its liver oil, which badly reduced numbers | Long fished in large numbers, and sold as rock salmon, with north-eastern Atlantic stocks collapsing |
| Conservation status | Critically Endangered, declining sharply in many regions | Vulnerable, with landings banned or tightly limited in the north-eastern Atlantic |
Tope vs Spurdog: common questions
Which one is more threatened?
The tope, which is Critically Endangered, whereas the spurdog is Vulnerable.
Which one makes long migrations?
The tope, which moves in schools and makes long migrations, with tagged fish crossing entire seas and oceans.
Why were topes fished for their livers?
Their liver oil is rich in vitamin A, and intensive fishing for it in the twentieth century badly reduced numbers.