Cuban Dogfish

The Cuban Dogfish was first discovered by Howell Rivero in 1936 in his publication of Some new, rare and little-known fishes from Cuba.

This dogfish has a slim grey fusiform body with a short round snout. The pectoral fins are sickle shaped with angular pointed tips. Their two dorsal fins have black tips and have venomous spines protruding out before the fin. Unlike their dorsal fins, their caudal and pelvic fins are white lined. The caudal is the fin attached to their tail. A pelvic fin is located underneath the fish before the anal fin and normally after the pectoral fins. This species exhibits countershading in its coloring. The grey topside side is juxtaposed with a lighter bottom. When viewed from below the lighter scales blend into the surface water. This blending hints at their preferred method of hunting. This species' ancestral heterocercal caudal tail has a longer upper lobe with shortened lower lobe. A quality exhibited in the Galeas, sharks, are dermal denticles. They are a type of scale commonly found on sharks, rays, and skates. These types of scales are like teeth and feel like sandpaper. This shark has a slim and elongated body that cuts through water. It's often described as fusiform. The head is conical and depressed but not laterally expanded. This distinct head shape resembles a slightly flattened cone without wide flattened edges. …

This species can range from the subtropical Atlantic Ocean to the greater Caribbean and Mexican gulf. Within this range S. cubensis sitings are reported from North Carolina to Florida. Even further south, sitings are reported in Cuba, Hispaniola, southern Brazil and Argentina historically. Recent research has reported a change in historical ranges. Since 2016, S. cubensis has been recorded in Colombian waters.

Long gestation periods and asynchronous breeding are Squalidae family characteristics. The gestation periods are species specific development from embryo to juvenile. This period of time comprises the process of embryo to birth or egg hatching. This species is ovoviviparous, specifically they are lecithotrophic where the embryo carries an individual yolk for nutrition. The embryo will develop inside the female until ready to hatch. This 'hatching' will occur inside the female, and the female will give live birth. In addition to live births, site association is common among the subclass elasmobranchii. Female S. cubensis will return to their original birth sites for parturition.

The word Squalus is derived from the Latin Squalus which means dirty or filthy. This name was given to marine fishes, considered unfit for human consumption, this includes sharks. Cubensis was used as a description of its location, with the addition of the Latin suffix denoting place, -ensis . This fish was originally found in Cuba.