Nursehound shark, Scyliorhinus stellaris, from the Mediterranean Sea. This picture was taken in Malta.

---

The nursehound or large spotted catshark is a smaller species of sharks found in the northeastern Atlantic and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. It occurs inshore and offshore in depths from 1 o 125m. The average size is about 125cm when fully grown and the maximum reported age is 19 years. Nursehound sharks live closely to the sea floor and feed on invertebrates, mollusks and crustaceans. The population status is unknown, but the specie sis listed as "near threatened" under the IUCN red list. This pup was released back into the wild after being nurtured in an aquarium where it was put after its collection from the local fish market.

---

Size: 5472px × 3648px
Location: Cirkewwa, Mellieha, Malta
Photo credit: © Rasmus Loeth Petersen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: atlantic, black, brown, carcharhiniformes, cartilagenous, cat, catshark, cirkewwa, diving, dogfish, dots, elasmobranch, elasmobranchii, eye, fin, fish, fishes, frame, gill, large, malta, marine, mediterranean, nursehound, pattern, pup, rocky, sandy, scuba, scyliorhinidae, scyliorhinus, sea, shark, sharklab, sharks, spotted, stellaris, underwater, vertebrate