Any of several small sharks found in the northeast Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean.

The sandy dogfish Scyliorhinus caniculus is found around the coasts of Britain, Scandinavia, and Europe. Bottom-living, it is sandy brown and covered with spots, and grows to about 75 cm/2.5 ft. It is edible, and is known in restaurants as 'rock eel' or 'rock salmon'. Various other species of small shark may also be called dogfish.

Squalamine, a compound isolated from dogfish 1993 was found to be effective against a broad range of bacteria and some viruses following animal tests 1994–95. It disables infected cells by altering the pH and increasing acidity.