Spiny Dogfish or Squalus acanthias

Physical appearance

size and shape

• males are 80-100cm long
• females are 98.5- 159cm long
• weight is 7.1- 9.9 pounds
• it is a nekton which means it swims

size and shape

• males are 80-100cm long
• females are 98.5- 159cm long
• weight is 7.1- 9.9 pounds
• it is a nekton which means it swims

physical adaptations

have tooth like scales to make skin rough and abrasive

teeth are in several rows used for grinding not tearing

spines on the dorsal fin are poisonous and used for protection

behavioral adaptations

• travel in schools of hundreds to thousand
• migration is long for food and warmer waters and also for mating
• does not lay eggs but lets the pups hatch inside and then give birth

zones it lives in

• live in the sunlight and twilight zone

does it stay in one zone

• no it prefers the cool waters in the twilight zone but will occasionally come up to the sunlight zone for food.

where you will find the spiny dogfish

abiotic factors

• average depth 0-2950 feet
• average light no or abundant
• average temperature 41-64.4 degrees fahrenhiet

biotic factors

• two plants also in its zones seaweed and algae
• three animals in its zone octopus, squid, and jellyfish

positive and negative impacts by humans

• people are over fishing
• polluted the water where it lives
• stop over fishing the spiny dogfish
• stop leaving nets at the bottom of the ocean

how i would track or study them

• i would find one then study it than release back into the wild with a tracking device on it and i would do it over and over
• i would put a radar on the tracker and then count all the spiny dogfish around the one that has the tracker

what we can do to help

• we can stop fishing with using nets and cages

what it eats

• octopus, squid, other spiny dogfish, hake, and salmon

how it captures or catches its prey
swims in schools and surrounds its prey

where it is on energy pyramaid

• i think the spiny dogfish is in the middle of the pyramid because it eats animals but still gets eaten by other animals

how it is a consumer

• it eats other animals that are alive and doesnt make its own food

how would the food chain be affected if my organism was extinct

• it would fall apart because species would overpopulate and some would go extinct

Interesting Facts

• they have 2-11 pups
• some schools they swim in are determined on age or gender

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