KITEFIN (black or seal shark) SHARK JAWS

(Dalatias licha)

AMONG THE WEIRDEST JAWS ON THE PLANET

An ordinary looking little shark with a BIG BITE

 (RARE!) relative of the nasty Cookie Cutter shark, awesome tooth formation!  They shed a whole row of teeth at a time from the OUTSIDE, notice the two layers.

Found in the Eastern Atlantic, from tropical West Africa to the Irish Atlantic slope; recorded once from the American coast. Shark size: 40-60” long; 72” is the longest recorded so far. Color: Dark chocolate, cinnamon, or violet brown below as well as above; the upper surface sometimes with poorly defined blackish spots; the dorsal and pectoral fins with pale or whitish edges, the tail tipped with black. This is a deepwater shark that has an extremely large liver so it can achieve neutral buoyancy. Harmless to humans.

Upper and lower jaw shown

#SJ-220-F

5-1/4" wide x 4" tall (7 top teeth nicked)

#SJ-220-G

3" wide x 2-1/2" tall

Negaprion brevirostris

The lemon shark gets its name because of its pale yellow brown coloring; at certain depths, light interacting with the local seawater can give this shark a tanned and yellow pitted appearance, much like the surface of a lemon.  It inhabits coastal inshore waters from New Jersey (US) to Southern Brazil, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean and along Senegal and the Ivory Coast of Africa in the eastern Atlantic.  

Lemon sharks only get 8 to 10 feet long and live well in captivity, thus their behaviors are better know than other sharks.  The lemon shark is also known to form loose aggregations and  based on size and sex it have been seen congregating near docks and fishing piers during the night, returning to deep water during the day.

Upper and lower jaw shown

#SJ230-55

17-1/2" wide,  Broken teeth

(1 available)

#SJ-230-60

17" wide x 10-3/4" tall,

(1 available)

#SJ230-80

15" wide; stock photo

(7 available)

#SJ230-90

14" wide (stock photo)

(3 available)

also known as the Sicklefin Lemon shark

(Negaprion acutidens)

A species of requiem shark, family Carcharhindae, widely distributed in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific.  Closely related to the Lemon shark (N. brevirostris) of the Americas, they are almost identical in appearance.  But the sicklefin lemon shark differs in having more sickel-shaped, falcate fins.

Close up of upper & lower jaws

#S230-H

Measures 18" wide x 10" tall