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Bull huss

Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-16

The large rough-ground catshark that gets called a big dogfish — separated from its small cousin by two nasal flaps that do not reach the mouth, and worth far more attention than it usually gets.

Safety: cliffs and rock platforms — can cause serious injury or death. 7 more points apply here.

What each one does, and what reduces it ↓

Catching Bull huss

Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.

Methods
Baits
Ground
When
May–Feb — months recorded at the places that document it, not a season for the whole range.
Where
53 places FishingHQ documents — strongest claim anywhere: regular local target · From a kayak, From the shore

The bull huss is what a small-spotted catshark would be if it grew to a metre and a half and moved onto rough ground. It is the larger of the two British catsharks, it holds over rock, kelp edge and broken ground rather than open sand, and it is a genuinely good fish to catch — heavy, dogged, and considerably less common than the endless small catsharks it is confused with.

AND IT IS CONFUSED WITH THEM CONSTANTLY. The usual advice — that a huss has larger, sparser spots — is true on average and unreliable in the hand, because spotting varies between individuals and fades on worn fish. The character that actually works is on the underside of the snout: a bull huss has TWO SEPARATE NASAL FLAPS THAT DO NOT REACH THE MOUTH, where a small-spotted catshark has a single joined flap that does. It takes two seconds and it never fails.

SIZE IS THE OTHER CLUE AND NOT A PROOF. A catshark over about 80 centimetres in British waters is much more likely to be a huss, and a huss can approach a metre and a half. But an eighty-centimetre fish could be either, which is exactly when the nose matters.

IT IS ALSO AN EGG-LAYER, like its smaller relative, with a larger and tougher mermaid's purse anchored to kelp and weed on the rough ground it lives over.

How it is caught

Gear for this fish

Where Bull huss is documented

Places where public sources describe this species as fished, with how it is fished and how strongly the evidence supports it. This is not a range map and it is not a recommendation — it is what has been written down about a fishery rather than a record of any individual catch, and being listed is never permission to fish.

The Cornish and Devon coasts

11 documented places

2 more documented places on this coast

The Causeway and Antrim coast

4 documented places

The Wexford coast

3 documented places

The Clare coast and the Shannon estuary

3 documented places

Connemara and Galway Bay

3 documented places

Clew Bay and Achill

3 documented places

Cardigan Bay and the sarnau

2 documented places

  • Trefor pier

    Pier

    Regular local target

    From the shore

  • Aberporth

    Rock mark

    Regular local target

    From the shore

The Lecale coast and Dundrum Bay

2 documented places

Also documented on 13 more coasts

Fewer places each, or less strongly supported. Each one names its own marks.

Pembrokeshire and the south-west Wales coast (2) · Anglesey (2) · The Kerry coast (2) · West Cork (2) · The Donegal coast and its sea loughs (2) · The Mourne coast and Carlingford Lough (1) · Weymouth Bay (1) · The Purbeck coast and Poole Bay (1) · Cork Harbour and the east Cork coast (1) · The Waterford coast (1) · The Sligo and Leitrim coast (1) · The Severn Estuary (4) · The Solway Firth (2)

What these strengths mean
Repeatedly reported
Several independent public accounts. Enough to say it happens more than once; not enough to call it a fishery.
Recorded here
At least one credible public account of this species being caught here. That is all it means.
Occasional
Caught here, and described as unusual rather than normal. Do not plan a session around it.
Regular local target
Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
Seasonal
Well supported, and concentrated in part of the year rather than spread through it.

Browse fishing places by part of the world

When to fish for bull huss

Where the places here state a season for bull huss, it clusters in May–Oct. This is a count of how many documented places name each month — evidence about when people fish for it, not a prediction of what any particular day will produce.

Months in which the places here record catches of bull huss. Each month shows how many of the 4 places that state a season include that month. This is a count of evidence, not a forecast.
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
January: 1 place names this month — few places.February: 1 place names this month — few places.March: no place here names this month — no place names it.April: no place here names this month — no place names it.May: 2 places name this month — many places.June: 3 places name this month — most places.July: 3 places name this month — most places.August: 3 places name this month — most places.September: 3 places name this month — most places.October: 2 places name this month — many places.November: 1 place names this month — few places.December: 1 place names this month — few places.

4 of the 52 places that record catches of bull huss state which months. The other 48 name no season, so they are counted in neither direction: the shape above is what the dated records say, not the whole picture. The dated records span 4 separate areas.

Identification

No photograph of Bull huss has passed identity review yet, so none is shown. A photograph is published only once somebody has checked the animal in it against the diagnostic features described on this page.

Scientific name
Scyliorhinus stellaris
Family
Scyliorhinidae
Water
Saltwater
Conservation status
Vulnerable
Regions
Britain & Ireland, Western Europe, Northern Europe, Mediterranean
  • THE NASAL FLAPS SETTLE IT. Turn the fish over: in a bull huss the two nasal flaps are SEPARATE and DO NOT extend down to the mouth. In a small-spotted catshark they are joined into one continuous flap that reaches the mouth. This character does not vary with age or wear and it is the only test worth relying on.
  • SPOTS ARE LARGER, DARKER AND SPARSER than the small-spotted catshark's dense freckling, often with pale spots mixed among the dark ones. Useful as a first impression, unreliable as a decision.
  • Considerably larger and heavier-bodied, with a broader, blunter head. Commonly over 80 cm and reaching well over a metre.
  • Has an ANAL FIN and NO SPINES, like all catsharks — which separates it from a spurdog immediately.
  • Skin is rough, and thicker and tougher than the small-spotted catshark's.
  • Caught over rough, rocky and kelp-edged ground far more often than over clean sand, where the small-spotted catshark dominates.

Size

Typical
80 cm–1.1 m and 3–7 kg for rod-caught fish.
Large
Over 1.2 m and 9 kg is a very good huss.

Exceptional: Around 1.5 m is the reported upper end for the species, and fish approaching it are old and uncommon.

The nose test, and why spot size is the wrong answer

There are two British catsharks, they are confused constantly, and almost every attempt to separate them uses the least reliable character available.

THE USUAL ADVICE IS ABOUT SPOTS. A small-spotted catshark has small dense freckling; a bull huss has larger, sparser, better-defined spots, often mixed with pale ones. This is true on average.

IT IS ALSO UNRELIABLE IN THE HAND. Spotting varies between individuals, it varies with size, it fades on worn and older fish, and it is genuinely ambiguous on a middling specimen in poor light — which is exactly the situation in which the question gets asked.

THE CHARACTER THAT ACTUALLY WORKS IS THE NASAL FLAPS. Turn the fish over and look at the underside of the snout, between the nostrils and the mouth.

IN A SMALL-SPOTTED CATSHARK the two nasal flaps are JOINED into a single continuous flap, and that flap extends downwards far enough to REACH THE MOUTH.

IN A BULL HUSS the two flaps are SEPARATE, and they DO NOT reach the mouth. There is a clear gap of skin between the flaps and the mouth.

THAT CHARACTER DOES NOT VARY. Not with age, not with condition, not with wear. It takes two seconds, it works in the dark with a headtorch, and it settles the question permanently.

SIZE IS A GOOD PRIOR. A spotted shark under about 70 centimetres is very probably a small-spotted catshark; one over about a metre is very probably a huss. But the range in between contains both species, and that is precisely the range where anglers guess.

GROUND IS THE OTHER PRIOR. Open clean sand and gravel is small-spotted catshark ground. Rock, kelp edge and broken rough ground is huss ground. Again a prior, not a proof — but a large spotted shark from a rock mark at night is a huss until the nose says otherwise.

WHY BOTHER? Because the two species are not equivalent. One is Least Concern and among the most abundant fish in British seas; the other is Vulnerable, considerably scarcer, slower to mature, and dependent on rocky and kelp ground for its egg cases. An angler who records both as 'dogfish' cannot tell those two situations apart, and neither can anybody relying on angler records.

Official guidance — why, and the sources (3)

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

  • Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including the sharks, skates and rays.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement, depth range and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Rough ground, big baits, and egg cases anchored to kelp

A bull huss is a rough-ground animal at every stage of its life, and that single fact organises both the fishing and the conservation.

THE GROUND IS ROCK, KELP AND BROKEN GROUND. Reefs, boulder fields, kelp edges, gullies between rock, and the rough patches within mixed ground. This is conger and ray country, not the clean sand where small-spotted catsharks swarm, and the overlap with those species is why huss are so often caught by people fishing for something else.

DEPTH IS BROAD AND THE USEFUL PART IS SHALLOW. The species occurs from the shallows to a few hundred metres, but rock marks and inshore reefs within reach of a shore angler hold fish, particularly at night.

NIGHT IS THE SEASON, MORE THAN ANY MONTH IS. Huss feed nocturnally by preference, and shore fishing for them is overwhelmingly a night fishery. There is no honest national month calendar; there is rough ground, darkness, and local knowledge.

THE BAIT IS LARGE AND OILY. Whole squid, large fish baits, mackerel flapper, cuttlefish. A huss will take a bait meant for conger and frequently does. Scent does the finding — the fish is hunting by smell and by the electrical signature of living tissue over ground it cannot see across — so freshness matters more than neatness.

TACKLE HAS TO WIN THE FIRST FEW SECONDS. A heavy fish hooked in rock will go into it. This is not a fishery for light gear, and it is one of the places where 'stronger than you think you need' is a welfare argument as well as a tackle-loss argument: a fish that breaks off in a snag is a fish left with a hook and a length of trace in rough ground.

AND THE EGG CASES ARE ANCHORED TO THE SAME KELP. Huss lay large, tough mermaid's purses and wrap the corner tendrils around kelp stipes and weed, where they develop for many months. That ties the species' reproduction directly to the condition of rocky and kelp habitat, in a way that simply does not apply to a fish broadcasting pelagic eggs. Damage to kelp beds and rocky ground is damage to the next generation of huss, and it is a large part of why the species is assessed as Vulnerable while its close relative, on the clean sand next door, is Least Concern.

SO A HUSS IS WORTH MORE CARE THAN ITS COMMON NAME SUGGESTS. Slower to mature, much less abundant, habitat-dependent for its eggs, and routinely recorded as 'a big dogfish'.

NOTHING HERE STATES WHETHER THIS FISH MAY BE KEPT, what minimum size applies, or whether it is protected where you are fishing. Several British sharks, skates and rays are protected in some administrations and not in others, the designations are revised, and the answer differs between England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland. Ask the fisheries authority for the water you are fishing before you go.

What experienced anglers do — why, and the sources (4)

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including the sharks, skates and rays.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, tackle convention and species behaviour.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The global Red List category and the population assessment behind it, which is a statement about the species rather than about any managed stock.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Lifecycle and reproduction

Oviparous, like the small-spotted catshark. The female lays large, tough, translucent egg capsules with curling tendrils at the corners and anchors them to kelp stipes, weed and structure on the rough ground she inhabits. The capsules are noticeably larger and stouter than the smaller species', which is consistent with the larger hatchling. Development inside the case takes many months and varies with temperature, and the young emerge as fully formed miniature sharks capable of feeding immediately. Growth is slow and maturity is later than in the small-spotted catshark, and the species is considerably less abundant.

Eggs are laid over an extended season rather than in a short window, attached to structure in shallow and moderate depths on rocky and weedy ground. Because the cases are anchored to kelp and weed, the species' reproductive success is tied directly to the condition of that habitat — damage to kelp beds and rocky ground affects egg survival in a way that does not apply to a species spawning pelagic eggs into open water. Fecundity is lower and maturity later than in the small-spotted catshark, which is the biological reason the two species' populations behave differently despite their close relationship.

Feeding and senses

A bottom predator and scavenger of rough ground, taking crustaceans — crabs particularly — cephalopods, molluscs and fish, both live and dead. It is a stronger and more capable predator than its smaller relative, and a considerably more determined one: a huss will take a large fish or squid bait meant for conger or ray, and the bite is often mistaken for something else. Feeding is nocturnal by preference and led by scent.

The standard elasmobranch package — acute olfaction, ampullae of Lorenzini detecting the electric fields of living and buried prey, and a lateral line — used over broken ground where sight is of limited value at the depths and light levels involved. The practical consequence for an angler is that a huss will locate a large scented bait tucked into rough ground in complete darkness, and that a fresh, oily, substantial bait is the whole of the technique.

Through the year

Present around the British Isles year-round, with the best shore fishing widely reported in the darker months and at night, and with local inshore movements onto shallower rough ground that vary by area. Like the small-spotted catshark this is not a species with a national season, but unlike it, huss are patchy: rough ground holds them and clean ground largely does not, so location matters far more than timing.

Distribution

North-east Atlantic from southern Scandinavia and the British Isles south to north-west Africa, and into the Mediterranean. Associated with rough, rocky and algal-covered ground from the shallows down to a few hundred metres, and generally much less abundant than the small-spotted catshark across the same range. Listed by the IUCN as VULNERABLE, reflecting a species that is naturally less numerous than its small relative, slower to mature, and dependent on rocky and kelp habitat for its anchored egg cases.

This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.

Why anglers care

A serious rough-ground species and a genuinely worthwhile fish, routinely dismissed because it shares a common name with a small nuisance. Huss fishing is rock-mark and rough-ground fishing at night with large baits and tackle strong enough to pull a heavy fish out of snags, and it overlaps almost exactly with conger and ray fishing. It is also the species that best demonstrates why identification matters: an angler who calls every spotted shark a dogfish never discovers they have been catching a different and far scarcer animal.

Handling and returning

A bull huss is a large, powerful, rough-skinned animal with a mouth full of small sharp teeth, and it is strong enough that the wrapping behaviour of the small catshark becomes a genuine problem rather than an annoyance. Control it before unhooking: hold it straight, behind the head and at the tail, and do not let it coil around a forearm. The skin is abrasive and a big fish will take skin off. Use long-nosed pliers or a T-bar; the teeth are small but numerous and sharp. There is no swim bladder, so a fish from depth releases well, but huss are often caught from rock marks where the return is the dangerous part for the angler — do not climb down a wet ledge with a heavy fish in your arms. Unhook where you landed it, support the fish horizontally, keep air exposure short, and return it as directly as the mark allows. If the hook is deep, cut the trace.

Safety

Cliffs and rock platforms — Can cause serious injury or death

Huss are a rough-ground species fished predominantly from rock marks at night, and the genuine danger of the fishery is not the fish. Landing and returning a heavy fish on a wet, weed-covered, sloping ledge in darkness, often with both hands occupied, is how anglers fall in — and cold water incapacitates a strong swimmer within a minute.

What reduces it: Choose the mark in daylight and know the exit before dark. Wear a buoyancy aid on rock. Do not carry a heavy fish down a wet ledge — unhook and return where you landed it, or use a drop net where the mark allows. Do not fish rock marks alone, and check the tide and the swell before committing to a platform.

Worse when:

  • Spring tides and rising swell, where a platform that was dry becomes washed.
  • Darkness, which is when this species is fished.
  • Wet weed and algae on sloping rock, which is far more slippery than it looks.
  • Fishing alone, where a fall is unwitnessed.

Injury while handling fish — Minor injury

A bull huss is large, strong and rough-skinned, and it coils around whatever holds it in the same way its smaller relative does — with far more force. A forearm used as a brace loses skin, and the numerous small sharp teeth will graze a hand working near the mouth.

What reduces it: Control the fish straight, one hand behind the head and one at the tail, so it cannot coil. Wet hands. Unhook with long-nosed pliers or a T-bar rather than fingers, and cut the trace close if the hook cannot be reached.

Worse when:

  • Night fishing on rock marks, where the fish is handled in poor light on uneven ground.
  • Holding a large fish around the middle, the grip it can coil out of.

Precautions that always apply here

  • Wear a buoyancy aid or lifejacket. Cold water incapacitates strong swimmers within a minute, long before swimming ability matters.
  • Check the tide before you go and know your exit route. Being cut off is the commonest way a shore session becomes a rescue.
  • Tell somebody where you are going and when you expect to be back.
  • Wet your hands before touching a fish. Dry hands strip the protective mucus layer that keeps infection out.
  • Support the fish's weight along its body, keep it out of the water for as short a time as possible, and hold it over something soft.
  • Keep fingers out of the gills and clear of the teeth. Gill damage is usually fatal to the fish, and several species will remove skin from a finger.

Further safety reading

  • Handling fish safely — Large, strong, rough-skinned and capable of coiling around a forearm with real force.
  • Rock platform and cliff safety — The genuine danger of huss fishing is not the fish. It is landing and returning a heavy animal on a wet sloping ledge in darkness with both hands occupied.

Check the rules before you fish

Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.

Check with:

  • Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
  • Current local bylaws
  • The relevant fisheries authority
  • The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
  • Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use

Where to go next

Where it lives

Where you will find it

Understanding this fish

Told apart from

Environment and conservation

Sources and evidence

  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including the sharks, skates and rays.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement, depth range and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The global Red List category for this species and the population assessment behind it, as published in the assessment dated 31 August 2020. Recorded with its date because a Red List category is revised, and a status with no date is a claim with no shelf life.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, tackle convention and species behaviour.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Why the 16 connections on this page are here, and the sources

How it is caught

What experienced anglers do — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Ledgering

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Surfcasting

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Gear for this fish

What experienced anglers do — 3 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Fish strip and cut bait

    Two independent county pages naming fish baits for huss, one of them distinguishing the presentation from that used for a co-occurring species.

    • Sea Angling in Ireland: the shore marks of Galway — Sea Angling Ireland (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: A named local contributor distinguishing the bait and the presentation that takes huss from the one that takes dogfish on the same mark.Passage read and verified
    • Sea Angling in Ireland: the shore marks of Sligo and Leitrim — Sea Angling Ireland (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: A county directory naming fish baits for bull huss over the foul ground of the western rock marks.Passage read and verified

  • Sea deadbaits

    A bait joined to the fish it is conventionally used for. Convention, recorded as convention.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Squid and cuttlefish

    A bait joined to the fish it is conventionally used for. Convention, recorded as convention.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where it lives

Backed by research — 3 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Inshore ground

    A distributional claim about where a species is found, which rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Kelp forest

    A distributional claim about where a species is found, which rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Rocky shores and reefs

    A distributional claim about where a species is found, which rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where you will find it

Backed by research — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Connemara and Galway Bay

    A claim that a coast contains the ground and conditions the species is associated with. It is a distributional statement about the world, it rests on the regional reference literature, and it deliberately asserts nothing about access, permission or catch.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution and habitat association of the marine and estuarine fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including which coasts and ground types a species occupies.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded distribution, depth range and habitat association for the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • The Clare coast and the Shannon estuary

    A claim that a coast contains the ground and conditions the species is associated with. It is a distributional statement about the world, it rests on the regional reference literature, and it deliberately asserts nothing about access, permission or catch.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution and habitat association of the marine and estuarine fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including which coasts and ground types a species occupies.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded distribution, depth range and habitat association for the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified

Understanding this fish

Backed by research — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Cephalopods as prey

    A dietary claim recorded at GROUP level against a modelled prey concept, because the sources describe the prey as a group and selecting a species for the edge to point at would assert a precision the evidence does not carry.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Decapod crustaceans as prey

    A dietary claim recorded at GROUP level against a modelled prey concept, because the sources describe the prey as a group and selecting a species for the edge to point at would assert a precision the evidence does not carry.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Told apart from

Official guidance — 1 connection

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

  • Small-spotted catshark

    Two records a reader must hold together, because the animals are confused with one another in the hand and the consequences of getting it wrong are not symmetrical.

    • Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Safety reading

Official guidance — 2 connections

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

  • Handling fish safely

    A hazard the species genuinely presents, joined to the record that explains how to manage it.

    • Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Rock platform and cliff safety

    A hazard the species genuinely presents, joined to the record that explains how to manage it.

    • Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Environment and conservation

Backed by research — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Habitat damage from bank and shore access

    A conservation claim about a species with a documented assessment, joined to the environmental issue it exemplifies.

    • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The global Red List category and the population assessment behind it for the species concerned.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Cefas science, advice and data on marine and freshwater environments — Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: UK marine fisheries science: survey data, distribution and elasmobranch stock monitoring in UK waters.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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