 One of these, a 15-cm-long adult male, was designated the type specimen.Smith and Radcliffe coined the new genus "Squaliolus" for this shark, and gave it the specific epithet "laticaudus", from the Latin "latus" meaning "broad" or "wide", and "cauda" meaning "tail".The spined pygmy shark may also be referred to as the dwarf shark or the bigeye dwarf shark.