WoRMS taxon details
Heterodontidae Gray, 1851
148802 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:148802)
accepted
Family
- Genus Heterodontus Blainville, 1816
- Genus Centracion Gray, 1831 accepted as Heterodontus Blainville, 1816
- Genus Gyropleurodus Gill, 1862 accepted as Heterodontus Blainville, 1816
- Genus Heterodontis accepted as Heterodontus Blainville, 1816 (misspelling)
- Genus Molochophrys Whitley, 1931 accepted as Heterodontus Blainville, 1816
marine, terrestrial
Not documented
Distribution Distribution: South Africa to Japan and Australia and New Zealand; Eastern Pacific from California to Galapagos Islands and...
Distribution Distribution: South Africa to Japan and Australia and New Zealand; Eastern Pacific from California to Galapagos Islands and Peru. Two dorsal fins, each with a spine. Only sharks with dorsal spines and anal fin present. Five pairs of gill slits; eyes without nictitating fold; small spiracles present; nostrils connected with mouth by deep groove. Small species (max 165 cm) with small mouth; anterior teeth small and cuspidate, posterior enlarged and molariform; snout very short and bluntly rounded. Sluggish nocturnal bottom sharks, mainly in shallow waters. Benthos feeder. Oviparous, producing eggs in unique, large, spiral-flanged egg cases. heter- (gr.) = different, odont- (gr.) = tooth [details]
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2026). FishBase. Heterodontidae Gray, 1851. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=148802 on 2026-08-10
The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 License
Nomenclature
basis of record
Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W. N. & Van der Laan, R. (eds). (2026). ECoF. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References. <em>California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco.</em> Electronic version accessed dd mmm 2026., available online at http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/Ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp [details]
Taxonomy
taxonomy source
Van Der Laan, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Fricke, R. (2014). Family-group names of Recent fishes. <em>Zootaxa.</em> 3882(1): 1-230., available online at https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 [details] Available for editors 
[request]
[request]Other
context source (PeRMS)
Chirichigno, N.; Cornejo, M. (2001). Catálogo comentado de los peces marinos del Perú. <em>2ª ed. Instituto del Mar de Perú. Publicación Especial. Callao.</em> 314 p. [details]
additional source Compagno, L.J.V. (2001). Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Volume 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). <em>FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes.</em> No. 1, Vol. 2. Rome, FAO. 269p. [details]
additional source Compagno, L.J.V. (2001). Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Volume 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). <em>FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes.</em> No. 1, Vol. 2. Rome, FAO. 269p. [details]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Unreviewed
Distribution Distribution: South Africa to Japan and Australia and New Zealand; Eastern Pacific from California to Galapagos Islands and Peru. Two dorsal fins, each with a spine. Only sharks with dorsal spines and anal fin present. Five pairs of gill slits; eyes without nictitating fold; small spiracles present; nostrils connected with mouth by deep groove. Small species (max 165 cm) with small mouth; anterior teeth small and cuspidate, posterior enlarged and molariform; snout very short and bluntly rounded. Sluggish nocturnal bottom sharks, mainly in shallow waters. Benthos feeder. Oviparous, producing eggs in unique, large, spiral-flanged egg cases. heter- (gr.) = different, odont- (gr.) = tooth [details]Habitat These are warm-temperate and tropical bottom sharks of water above 21°C, mostly confined to the continental and insular shelves and uppermost slopes. They occur from the intertidal to 275 m depth, but most are found in water shallower than 100 m. [details]
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | husha k’obulkophaaie | [details] |
| English | Port Jackson sharksPort Jackson bull-head sharkshorn sharksbullhead sharks | [details] |
| French | requins dormeursrequin de Port Jackson | [details] |
| Japanese | ネコザメ科nekozame-ka | [details] |
| Portuguese | tubarões dorminhocos | [details] |
| Russian | rogatye akulybych’i akuliakula rogataia | [details] |
| Spanish | dormilones | [details] |
