What might be the purpose of these two spines? Science has it's own opinions, but I suspect it has something to do with carrying two backpacks to school. One thing I do know is that underwater chiropractors love spiny dogfish.
Supposedly, these backs are used defensively, and not just in the "show a little backbone" sense. The spines end in the dorsal fins, which, when arched, secrete a poison.
If Poisoned Spine isn't a metal band name yet, I call dibs.
These poisonous spines must be super-effective, because they allow for spiny dogsharks to live over 100 years. No, that's not in dogshark years--that's in normal time. This means that we have spiny dogsharks all over the coasts who are living history! They can tell us what kind of garbage they ate during The Great Depression or if fish had a Civil Rights Movement themselves.
It really makes you think about life: its longevity and its preciousness...
Also, spiny dogfish don't have anal fins, and that fact always makes me laugh.
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