This research aims to study the influence of particle's shape factor, inlet velocity and feed volume concentration on the particle classification and fishhook effect in a mini-hydrocyclone. To develop study of innovation, three particles with extensive range of sphericities (0.05, 034, and 0.82) were chosen. The maximum separation efficiency was determined at three conditions: the highest inlet velocity, most sphericity and lowest particle concentration. The high particle sphericity offers less drag for an equivalent particle diameter. The results revealed that fishhook effect is more explicit for spherical particles. The presence of fishhook effect was described based on available theories. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.