The embryos develop for 5–11 months depending on the sea temperature, and the young are born with a measurement of 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in).

For example, S. canicula females located off the Mediterranean coast of France lay their eggs from March to June and in December.

In the waters surrounding Great Britain, egg laying occurs in spring with a gap between August and October.

On the Tunisian coast, the sharks lay their eggs starting in spring, peaking in the summer and then slightly decreasing during autumn.

Decapod crustaceans, molluscs and fishes are their main prey, but echinoderms, polychaetes, sipunculids and tunicates may also be eaten.

[5] Juveniles of S. canicula feed by anchoring the prey item on the dermal denticles near their tail, and tearing bite-sized pieces off with rapid head and jaw movements, a behaviour known as "scale rasping".

[12] A study published in 2014 at Exeter University showed that individual small-spotted catsharks have different personality traits.

It is regularly caught by near-shore fisheries, but the majority taken by commercial fishermen and recreational anglers are discarded.

Although localized depletion may have occurred in some areas, surveys have shown that populations are stable or are even increasing throughout the majority of its range.

Since 2003, there have been yearly releases of these sharks into the Gullmarn fjord in Sweden by the public aquaria Havets Hus in Lysekil.