Nursehound

Fascinating facts about the Nursehound

• At just 20–60 m (66–200 ft) beneath the surface, nursehounds tuck themselves into rocky crevices, preferring quiet, algae-covered bottoms over rough terrain. Their broad, rounded heads and two dorsal fins sit far back on a stout body that can reach 1.6 m (5.2 ft), though most adults stay under 1.3 m (4.3 ft). This low-light hideaway lets them ambush nocturnal prey while staying safe from larger hunters.
• When spring arrives, females lay two thick-walled egg cases at a time, each about 10–13 cm long, and secure them to seaweed with four tendrils. In the cold waters of the North Sea the embryos remain inside for 10–12 months, but in the warm Mediterranean they hatch after only 7 months.
• A newborn nursehound measures just 10–16 cm and adds roughly half a millimetre to its length each day, reaching sexual maturity at 77–79 cm after about four years. Once mature, they can live at least 19 years, a lifespan that gives them multiple breeding seasons despite a modest clutch size of 9–41 eggs per year. Their slow growth and late maturity make them vulnerable to overfishing.
• In the 19th century, the shark’s rough skin, called "rubskin", was prized like a natural sandpaper; a pound fetched the same price as a hundredweight of manufactured sandpaper. Artisans used it to polish wood, smooth arrows, and even raise the hairs on beaver hats. This historic trade highlights how a single anatomical feature once powered whole cottage-industry economies.
• Across the Mediterranean, nursehound numbers have plunged dramatically: in the upper Tyrrhenian Sea their population dropped by more than 99% since the 1970s, and declines are also recorded around the Gulf of Lion, Albania, and the Balearic Islands. Their patchy distribution and larger size make recovery slower than that of their smaller relatives. These steep losses have pushed the species onto the IUCN’s Vulnerable list, underscoring the urgent need for targeted conservation.

At a glance

About the Nursehound

The nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris) is a robust catshark that can reach 1.6 m (5.2 ft), though most individuals stay under 1.3 m (4.3 ft). Its broad, rounded head and stout body taper toward a nearly horizontal caudal fin, while two dorsal fins sit far back, the first larger than the second. The skin is covered in large, upright dermal denticles that feel like sandpaper, giving the shark its historic nickname “rubskin.” Its back is a canvas of small black dots and variable brown spots larger than the pupil, set on a gray-brown background; some individuals display white spots or faint saddles, and the plain white underside provides a stark contrast. By day the nursehound slips into tiny crevices among rocks or algae, often sharing these refuges with conspecifics, and at night it ventures into deeper water to hunt. A nocturnal benthic predator, it feeds on an eclectic menu of bony fishes, mackerel, cardinalfishes, dragonets, gurnards, flatfishes, herring, plus smaller sharks, crabs, hermit crabs, large shrimp, and cephalopods, scavenging when the opportunity arises. A surprising trait is its long-term egg case strategy: females lay two thick-walled, dark brown cases each month from March to October, attaching them to seaweed, and the embryos may remain inside for up to a year before hatching, a developmental pace that varies from seven months in the southern Mediterranean to ten-12 months in the North Sea.

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