Sharks in the Southwest of England

A surprising diversity of sharks, skates and rays are found around the coast of the UK with around 50 species recorded. Some are only regularly seen by researchers and commercial fishermen, such as the deep-water sharks and skates. Others such as the Common Eagle Ray (Myliobatis aquila), and the Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena), are extremely rare visitors which may occasionally be caught or found washed up on the shore.

If angling in the Southwest, there are around 15 species that can be encountered regularly. In addition to these, some rarer species are occasionally caught such as the Common Stingray (Dasyatis pastinaca), and the Marbled Torpedo Ray (Torpedo marmorata). The population structures and movements of these animals is still poorly understood and angling records are one of the best sources of information available.

Click on the images below to find out how you can identify the most commonly caught sharks, skates and rays in the Southwest of England using the Shark Trust ID Guides. Additional shark and skate and ray ID guides can be found in the resources section.

Sharks:

Blackmouth Catshark Galeus melastomus	Blue Shark Prionace glauca	Common Smoothhound Mustelus mustelus	Bull Huss/Nursehound Scyliorhinus stellaris
Porbeagle Shark Lamna nasus	Smallspotted Catshark Scyliorhinus canicula	Spurdog/Spiny Dogfish Squalus acanthias	Starry Smoothhound Mustelus asterias
Tope Galeorhinus galeus

Skates and Rays:

Blonde Ray Raja brachyura	Cuckoo Ray Leucoraja naevus	Small-eyed Ray Raja microocellata	Spotted Ray Raja montagui
Thornback Ray Raja clavata	Undulate Ray Raja undulata