Norwegian record Starry smooth-hound: 800 g

About Starry smooth-hound

The starry smooth-hound (Mustelus asterias) is a slim, medium-sized shark that grows to around 1.4 m and roughly 5 kg. It is grey or grey-brown above sprinkled with small white spots, and white underneath. It lives near the bottom over sand and gravel on the continental shelf, from shallow water down to about 200 m. Its diet is mostly crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans, along with molluscs. Females give birth to about 7–15 pups, each some 30 cm long. The range extends from West Africa and the Mediterranean north to the North Sea and Scotland. In Norway it is very rare: by 2020 it had been recorded fewer than ten times, the first in the Oslofjord in 1887, and most records were of dead fish. It is listed as NA on the Norwegian Red List 2021 and as Near Threatened (NT) globally by the IUCN.

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Store norske leksikon, Wikipedia

• Habitat: Saltvann
• Best month: Januar

See the species guide

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How to register a Norwegian record

1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.