The spotted estuary smooth-hound or rig (''Mustelus lenticulatus'') is a

houndshark The Triakidae or houndsharks are a family of ground sharks, consisting of about 40 species in nine genera. In some classifications, the family is split into two subfamilies, with the genera ''Mustelus'', '' Scylliogaleus'' and '' Triakis'' in t ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Triakidae, found on the

continental shelves A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

and in estuaries around

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is closely related to the gummy shark (''Mustelus antarcticus'') of Australia. Males can grow up to a length of , while females can reach a length of . In 2025, rigs were found to be the first known sharks capable of sound production, namely, "clicks." It is commercially fished, and is commonly served in

fish and chip Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of battered and fried fish, served with chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, the dish is a common takeaway ...

shops in New Zealand under the name "lemonfish". In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the spotted estuary smooth-hound as "not threatened" with the qualifier "conservation dependent" under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spotted estuary smooth-hound spotted estuary smooth-hound Endemic marine fish of New Zealand spotted estuary smooth-hound