The school shark is a small, shallow-bodied shark with an elongated snout. The large mouth is crescent-shaped and the teeth are of a similar size and shape in both jaws. School sharks are dark bluish grey on the upper (dorsal) surface and white on their bellies (ventral surface). Juveniles have black markings on their fins. Mature sharks range from 135 to 175 centimetres for males and 150 to 195 centimetres for females.

The school shark has a widespread distribution and is found mainly near the seabed around coasts in temperate waters, down to depths of about 800 metres.

The school shark feeds primarily on fish. Examination of stomach contents of fish caught off California showed that they were not fussy eaters and consumed whatever fish were plentiful at the time. Their diet was predominantly sardines, midshipmen, flatfish, rockfish and squid. Feeding is done both in open water and near the seabed as sardines and squid are pelagic fish while the remainder are benthic (bottom) species

The school shark is ovoviviparous. This means that the eggs are fertilised internally and remain in the uterus where the developing foetus feeds on the large yolk sac. Males become mature at a length of about 135 centimetres and females at about 150 centimetres. The gestation period is about one year and the number of developing pups carried varies with the size of the mother, there are 6-52 young born at 30 cm. The females have traditional "pupping" areas in sheltered bays and estuaries where the young are born. The juvenile fish remain in these nursery areas when the adults move off to deeper waters. Fished commercially (Fish 'n' Chips fish!) Unlike most ofther fish the School Shark is able to close it's eyes by drawing up it's lower eye lids.
Eaten by Porbeagle and probably other large sharks. Often follow fishing lines to the surface and steal the bait in full view of fishermen.

A Treasury of New Zealand Fishes: Graham
Galeorhinus galeus, Tope shark". Fishbase.org. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 7 February 2014