The Dogfish is first mentioned in chapter XXIV, when Pinocchio, whilst searching for his creator Mister Geppetto, is informed by a dolphin that he has likely been swallowed by the creature which "...for some days has come to wreak extermination and desolation in our waters". The Dogfish is later mentioned in chapter XXVI by Pinocchio's school friends on the Island of the Busy Bees, who tell him that the creature has been sighted on the coast, so to coax Pinocchio away from school.