Overview

This shark belongs to the houndshark family, a broad group of shelf and nearshore species with a practical coastal build. In PocketShark, expect a benthic-to-near-benthic predator rather than a flashy pelagic specialist. Houndsharks are usually slender to moderately built coastal sharks with two dorsal fins, an anal fin, and a generally understated gray-brown appearance. Houndsharks occupy temperate, subtropical, and tropical seas around the world, most often on continental shelves and in nearshore habitats.

Typical habitats include sandy bays, estuaries, rocky shelves, kelp-fringed coasts, reefs, and upper-slope margins.

Added from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Why it matters: The family includes both egg-laying and live-bearing species, which is a useful reminder that shark reproduction does not follow one simple rule.

Common nameblacktipe tope
Scientific nameHypogaleus hyugaensis
FamilyTriakidae
OrderCarcharhiniformes
Max length1.3 m
Depth range0 to 0 meters
RegionMozambique, Mozambican EEZ, Kenya
DietData not available in this offline release.
HabitatMarine waters (habitat data not available locally).
Why it stands outFamily: Triakidae

What this shark is

Houndsharks are usually slender to moderately built coastal sharks with two dorsal fins, an anal fin, and a generally understated gray-brown appearance.

Where it lives

Houndsharks occupy temperate, subtropical, and tropical seas around the world, most often on continental shelves and in nearshore habitats.

Typical habitats include sandy bays, estuaries, rocky shelves, kelp-fringed coasts, reefs, and upper-slope margins.

How it differs from similar sharks

Family: Triakidae

Compare it against African spotted catshark, balloon shark, and sicklefin lemon shark.

Why it is notable

They are not major problem sharks for people. Fisheries pressure and nursery habitat loss are the more common concerns.

Species-level taxonomy was verified from Sharkipedia's current species list and taxonomy workbook. In this pass, the narrative fields are cautious family-level placeholders synthesized from broad shark references, chiefly the FAO Sharks of the World catalogue, because a stronger multi-source species-level synthesis was not assembled here without risking invented detail. Replace this with a direct species-level synthesis before publication in the app.

Related shark pages

These links are meant to help readers continue through related species, not force extra clicks.

Balloon catshark scientific figure showing the stout body and broad head; not to scale.
Cephaloscyllium sufflans

balloon shark

Shark species in Scyliorhinidae.

1.1 m max