NIGHT SHARK

Carcharhinus signatus

SIZE

To about 9 ft (2.7 m).

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

• Eyes large and green
• Snout long and pointed
• First dorsal fin small, originating over or behind free tips of pectoral fins
• Teeth smooth-edged or finely serrated; upper teeth with increasingly oblique cusps, pronounced notch on outer margins with 2-5 coarse serrations
• Color grayish-blue above, sometimes with small black spots; grayish-white below
• Interdorsal ridge

DISTRIBUTION

DE to FL, including Straits of Florida, Cuba, and Gulf of Mexico.

HABITAT

Offshore on or along outer continental and insular shelves; in waters 164-328 ft (50-100 m) or deeper (to 1,968 ft (600 m)).

SIMILAR SPECIES

Silky shark and dusky shark lack green eyes. Silky shark has more rounded, swept-back first dorsal fin. Spinner shark lacks interdorsal ridge.

MORE INFORMATION

Text descriptions taken from Guide to Sharks, Tunas, & Billfishes of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

Night shark length-weight relationship

Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History

Current Age and Growth Research

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This page was last updated: December 17, 2004