Like saw sharks, angel sharks are also often misidentified as rays. The most obvious difference is that angel sharks possess pectoral fins that are not attached to or connected with the head. Angel sharks also possess an enlarged caudal lower lobe but, like dogfishes, do not possess anal fins.
This order includes 18 species, most of them of small size. An exception is the japanese angel shark, Squatina japonica, that reaches 2 m.
Unique in angel sharks is that the lower lobe of the tail is longer than the upper lobe.
Angel sharks spend most of the day buried in sand ranging from very shallow water to 1300 m.