Mustelus californicus This small, slender shark has a pointed snout and large oval eyes, and triangular fins with a lobed, asymmetrical caudal (tail) fin. Brownish gray on top and fading to a light underbelly, they usually grow to 46 inches long, but some females have been measured at 64 inches.

The gray smooth-hound (Mustelus californicus) is a houndshark of the family Triakidae. It is found on the continental shelves of the subtropical eastern Pacific, from northern California to the Gulf of California, between latitudes 40° N and 23° N, to a depth of 46 m. It can grow up to a length of 1.24 m.

A common inshore and offshore shark found on the continental shelves, and entering shallow muddy bays. Feeds mostly on crabs, including cancrids and grapsids, ghost shrimp, innkeeper (echiuroid) worms (Urechis), and small fish (herring and midshipmen, Porichthys). Viviparous (with a yolk-sac placenta), with 2 to 5 young in a litter.