These teeth overlap in both broad form and edge treatment. Root proportions, jaw position, size, age and locality must carry more weight than silhouette alone.
Narrow smooth-edged cusp with fine serrations mostly confined to the base on upper teeth.
Broad, serrated high-cusped upper teeth; narrower and more finely serrated lowers.
Narrow dagger / Hooked blade
Broad triangle / Narrow dagger
Smooth edge / Fine serrations
Fine serrations / Coarse serrations
No side cusplets
No side cusplets
Two distinct root lobes
Wide / nearly flat root / Two distinct root lobes
8–30 mm reference range
8–32 mm reference range
Upper teeth have basal serrations; lower teeth are narrow and largely smooth.
High-cusped serrated uppers; narrow finely serrated lowers.
Warm shallow bays, mangroves, reefs and continental shelves.
Warm-temperate and tropical shelves, bays and coastal waters.
Fishes, rays, crustaceans and occasional seabirds.
Bony fishes, rays, small sharks, cephalopods and crustaceans.
Usually 2.4–3 m (8–10 ft).
Usually 1.8–2.4 m (6–8 ft).
No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
Fossil teeth are reported, but isolated teeth may only be identifiable to genus or family.
Carcharhinus teeth are common in younger marine deposits but species attribution is often tentative.
If the base is worn away, the subtle basal serrations disappear and the tooth can resemble several other requiem sharks.
Isolated teeth overlap with many Carcharhinus species and often support only a genus-level identification.
Illustrations are original TuffShark diagrams, not photographs taken from either reference.
KEEP COMPARING