Yesterday I caught a spiny dogfish for the first time while surfcasting.

At first I though it might be a small spotted dogfish but I knew it was a spiny dogfish when I saw the spines on it's back.

What I didn't realise was that it's really easy to get jabbed by it's dorsal spine if you're not careful.
I also didn't realise that a jab can be rather painful and those spines are also slightly poisonous.
The jab caused a rather deep cut that was bleeding and burning quite a bit.

As soon as I got home I made sure everything got disinfected. There is a bit of risk of an infection.
A day later it looks okay but is still a bit swollen and oozing.

So better be careful next time when handling a spiny dog. 



Spiny dogfish are quite plentiful and often an unwanted by-catch.
Then can appear in plaque proportions at times and are considered the most abundant shark species in the oceans.

They got two nasty venomous spines on their back and try to take a jab at you if given half a chance.



They are also known as piked dogfish, rock salmon and spiky dog.
In New Zealand they are an unwanted by-catch but I've read that in Europe they are processed for food.

I guess by calling them rock salmon, they'd also taste much better 😊