M. schmitti found in Argentina showed longer body lengths than individuals closer to Uruguay.

More specifically, M. schmitti is found on the continental shelves of the subtropical south-western Atlantic Ocean, from southern Brazil to northern Argentina, between latitudes 30° S and 44° S, at depths between 60 m to 195 m. M. schmitti has shown ontogenetic habitat preference with distributions differing between age classes of juveniles and neonates, and the adults.

For adults, the distributional changes occur due to a combination of sex segregation, migratory patterns, and the environment.

Sexual segregation refers to the concept where males and females live in different areas when it is nonreproductive season.

M. schmitti females living near El Rincón tend to reside in higher depths and warner water than males during the nonreproductive season.

[6] Females in Río de la Plata live at lower depths and colder water during nonreproductive season.

[6] Similar to other species within the same class, M. schmitti tends to have a slow growth rate and long lifespan.

M. schmitti is often described as an “opportunist feeder” due to their diets which include a wide range of prey but are dominated by crustaceans, fish, and polychaetes.

[11] The individuals residing in the deeper water of Río de la Plata also feed on crustaceans but consume other organisms as well, primarily fish and polychaetes.

It has been found that diets in coastal areas tend to be abundant in Polychaetes when the sharks are small, typically classified as juveniles.

[11] Prey selection in this area shifts to fish as the sharks’ size increases and moves into deeper water, which is typical in adults.

M. schmitti is one of the most caught species in artisanal fishing in the Atlantic coast with small gillnets being the primary method used against them.

[14] To tackle this issue, specific sized gillnets are promoted to narrow down the portion of the M. schmitti population being caught.