Squalus acutipinnis Regan, 1908a Bluntnose Dogfish Squalus acutipinnis Regan, 1908a: 248, pl. 37. Lectotype: BMNH 1905.6.8.8 designated by Krefft (1968). Type locality: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Western Indian Ocean. Local synonymy: Squalus blainvillei: Gilchrist, 1902: 165; Thompson, 1914: 149; Bass et al., 1976 (in part): 15; Muñoz-Chápuli and Ramos 1989 (in part): 1; Ebert et al., 2013 (in part): 85, fig., pl. 4. Squalus acutipinnis: Regan, 1908a: 248, pl. 37; Regan, 1921: 412; Barnard, 1925 (in part): 48; Barnard, 1947: 20, fig. 4, pl. 3; Krefft, 1968 (in part): 34, pl. III A (cited, description, designation of lectotype; South Africa); Bass et al., 1986: 62; Myagkov & Kondyurin 1986: 8; Compagno et al., 1991: 68; Ebert et al., 2010: 22; Ebert, 2015: 57, fig. 55; Ebert & Mostarda, 2015: 18, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144; Viana & de Carvalho, 2016: 628, fig. 1; Veríssimo et al., 2017 (in part): 414; Viana et al., 2018: 25. Squalus fernandinus: Gilchrist, 1922b (in part): 48; Von Bonde, 1923 (in part): 5; Fowler, 1941 (in part): 260–262 (description; South Africa, Mauritius); Smith, 1949a (in part): 60; Smith, 1965 (in part): 60. Squalus acanthias: Smith, 1949a: 60, fig. 64; Smith, 1965 (in part): 60, fig. 64. Squalus megalops: Bass et al., 1976 (in part): 10–11, fig. 11; pl. 3; Compagno, 1984a: 118, fig.; Bass et al., 1986 (in part): 62, fig. 5.26; Compagno et al., 1989 (in part): 22, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 68; Ebert et al., 1992: 606; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004; 53; Compagno et al., 2005: 76, fig., pl. 3; Ebert, 2013 (in part): 53; Ebert et al., 2013 a (in part): 91; NPOA, 2013: 39; Compagno, 2016: 1157, 1162; Weigmann, 2016: 904. Squalus mitsukurii: Bass et al., 1986 (in part): 61. Squalus probatovi: Myagkov & Kondyurin, 1986: 567, figs. 1c, g, i.; Gubanov et al., 1986: 172; Muñoz-Chápuli & Ramos, 1989: 19; Weigmann, 2016: 904 (synonym of S. megalops); Viana et al., 2017: 25; Viana et al., 2018: 5, 26. Squalus cf. megalops: Compagno, 1999: 144; Naylor et al., 2012a (in part): 58, 148, fig. 42; Naylor et al., 2012b (in part): fig. 2.7. Squalus acutipinna: da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144 [amended spelling to S. acutipinnis, 2015: 435]. Squalus blainville: Veríssimo et al., 2017 (in part): 414. Squalus cf. blainvillei Viana et al., 2017: 25 (cited only; Southern Africa); Viana et al., 2018: 5, 26. Squalus margaretsmithae: Viana et al. 2018: 13, figs. 6c–d, 8–14; Viana & de Carvalho, 2018: 628. South Africa voucher material: Squalus acutipinnis: Lectotype: BMNH 1905.6. 8.8. Paralectotypes: (3 specimens) BMNH 1859.5. 7.68, BMNH 1900.11. 6.14. Squalus margaretsmithae: Holotype: SAIAB 25389. Paratypes: SAIAB 21856, SAIAB 21858, SAIAB 21859, SAIAB 21939, SAIAB 25362, SAIAB 25366, SAIAB 25377. Non-types: (voucher specimens from Viana & de Carvalho, 2016) SAIAB 7829, SAIAB 10443, SAIAB 19863, SAIAB 21933, SAIAB 25360, SAIAB 25361, SAIAB 25369, SAIAB 25390, SAIAB 25394, SAIAB 26639, SAIAB 34576, SAM 12986, SAM 12996, SAM 28638, SAM 32550, SAM 32894, SAM 34217, ZMB 19151. South Africa distribution: The Orange River (WC) to KZN border with Mozambique. Remarks: The South African “short-nose” Squalus species-complex (S. acutipinna, S. cf. blainville, S. mahia, S. margaretsmithae, and Squalus probatovi) is in need of extensive taxonomic revision to clarify and identify regional species. The occurrence of five co-occurring “short-nose” species seems unlikely given molecular (Veríssimo et al., 2017) and ecological data (Ebert et al., 1992; unpubl. data), which does not support this number of species. Therefore, until further detailed data are available S. margaretsmithae and S. probatovi are considered junior synonyms of S. acutipinna. Conservation status: NT (2020).

Published as part of Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 4947 (1) on pages 21-22, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4947.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4614567