Scyllium acanthonotum* De Filippi, 1857 Scyllium catulus Müller & Henle, 1838 Squalus stellaris Linnaeus, 1758 * ambiguous synonym The nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris), also known as the large-spotted dogfish, greater spotted dogfish or bull huss, is a species of catshark, belonging to the family Scyliorhinidae, found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

Growing up to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long, the nursehound has a robust body with a broad, rounded head and two dorsal fins placed far back.

It shares its range with the more common and closely related small-spotted catshark (S. canicula), which it resembles in appearance but can be distinguished from, in having larger spots and nasal skin flaps that do not extend to the mouth.

Nursehounds have nocturnal habits and generally hide inside small holes during the day, often associating with other members of its species.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the nursehound as Vulnerable, as its population in the Mediterranean Sea seems to have declined substantially from overfishing.

[4] The nursehound is found in the northeastern Atlantic from southern Norway and Sweden to Senegal, including off the British Isles, throughout the Mediterranean Sea, and the Canary Islands.

[1] This bottom-dwelling species prefers quiet water over rough or rocky terrain, including sites with algal cover.

[2] The nursehound has small black dots covering its back and sides, interspersed with brown spots of varying shapes larger than the pupil, on a grayish or brownish background.

[5][6] Primarily nocturnal, nursehounds spend the day inside small holes in rocks and swim into deeper water at night to hunt.

[6] The nursehound feeds on a variety of benthic organisms, including bony fishes such as mackerel, deepwater cardinalfishes, dragonets, gurnards, flatfishes, and herring, and smaller sharks such as the small-spotted catshark.

[1] Known parasites of this species include the monogeneans Hexabothrium appendiculatum and Leptocotyle major,[11][12] the tapeworm Acanthobothrium coronatum,[13] the trypanosome Trypanosoma scyllii,[14] the isopod Ceratothoa oxyrrhynchaena,[15] and the copepod Lernaeopoda galei.

[16] The netted dog whelk (Nassarius reticulatus) preys on the nursehound's eggs by piercing the case and extracting the yolk.

Known breeding grounds include the River Fal estuary and Wembury Bay in England,[17] and a number of coastal sites around the Italian Peninsula, in particular the Santa Croce Bank in the Gulf of Naples.

[10] Although a single female produces 77–109 oocytes per year, not all of these are ovulated and estimates of the actual number of eggs laid range from 9 to 41.

Sexual maturity is attained at a length of 77–79 cm (30–31 in), which corresponds to an age of four years if hatchling growth rates remain constant.

[9] The rough skin (called "rubskin") of the nursehound was once used to polish wood and alabaster, to smooth arrows and barrels, and to raise the hairs of beaver hats as a replacement for pumice.

This species is more susceptible to overfishing than the small-spotted catshark because of its larger size and fragmented distribution, which limits the recovery potential of depleted local stocks.