If captured, the shark can arch its back to pierce its captor with spines near the dorsal fins that secrete a mild venom into its predator.

They are aggressive hunters and have a sizable diet that can range from squid, fish, crab, jellyfish, sea cucumber, shrimp and other invertebrates.

[11][12] Male Spiny dogfish use their claspers to impregnate females, which take time to develop properly, and before reaching sexual maturity, tend to be longer than their pelvic fins.

At this point testes are fully developed, and sperm exist within the seminal vesicles, and genital ducts conform to a twisted shape we commonly see in adults.

[14] Life span estimates based on analysis of vertebral centra and annuli in the dorsal spines range from 35 to 54 years.

[15] Spiny dogfish are sold as food in Europe, the United States, Canada, New Zealand,[16] Venezuela and Chile.

The meat is primarily eaten in England, France, Italy, the Benelux countries, Germany, and as an unwitting houndshark in Greece.

[citation needed] In England, dogfish are bought in fish and chip shops as "huss", and previously as "rock salmon" until the term was outlawed.

Because of their availability, cartilaginous skulls and small sizes, they are popular vertebrate dissection specimens in high schools and universities.

They are classified in the IUCN Red List of threatened species as Vulnerable globally and Critically endangered in the Northeast Atlantic, meaning stocks around Europe have decreased by at least 95%.

This is a direct result of overfishing to supply northern Europe's taste for rock salmon, saumonette, and zeepaling.

[2] In EU waters, a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been in place since 1999, but until 2007 it only applied to ICES Areas IIa and IV.

This drastic increase led to the creation and implementation of many fishery management policies placing restrictions on the fishing of spiny dogfish.

[28] Squalus acanthias fossils are known from the Miocene of Denmark and the Netherlands, dating from approximately 11 million years ago.