Small, narrow triangular teeth with fine serrations; upper teeth are broader than lowers.
A single tooth is rarely separable from other small Carcharhinus species.
01
ORIGINAL VISUAL PLATE
Front, edge and jaw position.
02
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Narrow dagger or Broad triangle
- Cutting edge
- Fine serrations
- Side cusplets
- No side cusplets
- Root
- Two distinct root lobes
- Reference tooth height
- About 5–20 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Jaw variation
- Fine-serrated uppers and more slender lowers.
03
ECOLOGY + SCALE
The shark behind the tooth.
- Habitat
- Shallow Indo-Pacific coral reefs, lagoons and reef flats.
- Diet
- Small reef fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans.
- Estimated shark size
- Usually 1.2–1.6 m (4–5.2 ft); recorded to about 1.8 m.
- Bite force
- No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
- Fossil occurrence
- Sparse and usually genus-level.
- Time range
- Living; sparse fossil record
04
FUNCTION
Form follows feeding.
Tooth proportions shift with position, but the overall set is gracile compared with larger requiem sharks.
05
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
LivingWhitetip reef sharkNarrow central cusp flanked by small side cusplets; edges are smooth to weakly serrated.Compare visual profile →LivingBlacktip sharkNarrow, erect upper cusp with fine serrations and a broader base; lower teeth are slimmer and more upright.Compare visual profile →LivingCaribbean reef sharkBroad triangular, finely serrated upper teeth and narrow lower teeth with small serrations.Compare visual profile →
AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE
Open source ↗Florida Museum
The visual plate is original TuffShark artwork and is not copied from the reference. Use the source alongside formation age, locality and associated material.
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