Mustelus palumbes Smith, 1957c

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 57-58

Mustelus palumbes Smith, 1957c

Whitespotted Houndshark

Mustelus palumbes Smith, 1957c: 358 , figs. 1e–f. Holotype: SAIAB [former RUSI] 24. Type locality: Knysna Estuary , Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Local synonymy: Mustelus vulgaris :? Bleeker, 1860b: 57;? Gilchrist, 1902: 163; von Bonde, 1923: 4. Mustelus canis : Thompson, 1914: 141; Barnard, 1925: 30; Norman, 1935: 36; Smith, 1949a: 46 (in part); Smith, 1965: 46 (in part). Mustelus mustelus: Fowler, 1936: 61 (in part); Fowler, 1941: 207 (in part); Smith, 1949a: 46 (in part); Smith, 1965: 46 (in part). Mustelus manazo: Smith, 1949a: 45 (in part?); Smith, 1957c: 357 (in part?); Smith, 1965: 45 (in part?). Mustelus palumbes: Smith, 1965: 565 ; Smith & Smith, 1966: 22, fig.; Compagno, 1984b: 422, fig.; Bass et al., 1986: 82, fig. 9.28, pl. 4; Compagno, 1988a: 223; Compagno et al., 1989: 58, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 87; Compagno, 1999: 119; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 64; Compagno et al., 2005: 277, fig., pl. 46; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 423, fig., pl. 56; NPOA, 2013: 44; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 146; Compagno, 2016: 1281; Weigmann, 2016: 885.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 24, SAIAB 6070, SAIAB 6228, SAIAB 6230, SAIAB 6231, SAIAB 6232, SAIAB 6260, SAIAB 8370, SAIAB 10724, SAIAB 11964, SAIAB 12000, SAIAB 12118, SAIAB 12120, SAIAB 12123, SAIAB 12124, SAIAB 12125, SAIAB 12126, SAIAB 12127, SAIAB 12128, SAIAB 12129, SAIAB 12804, SAIAB 12806, SAIAB 19391, SAIAB 21883, SAIAB 21884, SAIAB 21885, SAIAB 25184, SAIAB 25185, SAIAB 25328, SAIAB 25329, SAIAB 25330, SAIAB 25331, SAIAB 25332, SAIAB 25333, SAIAB 25335, SAIAB 26640, SAIAB 44190, SAIAB 46920, SAIAB 48506, SAIAB 99365, SAIAB 99366, SAIAB 99367, SAIAB 99382, SAIAB 189111.

South African distribution: The Orange River (NC) to central KZN.

Remarks: This relatively common houndshark species tends to occur mostly at depths over 70 m, while its relatives M. mustelus and T. megalopterus , both occur coastally at depths less than 50 m ( Compagno et al., 1991).

Conservation status: LC (2020).