Triangular serrated upper tooth; narrow erect lower tooth with finer serrations.
Dusky and grey reef shark teeth may be effectively indistinguishable without locality or associated jaws.
01
ORIGINAL VISUAL PLATE
Front, edge and jaw position.
02
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Broad triangle or Hooked blade
- Cutting edge
- Fine serrations or Coarse serrations
- Side cusplets
- No side cusplets
- Root
- Wide / nearly flat root or Two distinct root lobes
- Reference tooth height
- About 8–32 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Jaw variation
- Triangular serrated uppers; narrow lower teeth.
03
ECOLOGY + SCALE
The shark behind the tooth.
- Habitat
- Warm clear water around oceanic islands and outer shelves.
- Diet
- Fishes, rays, squid and occasional other sharks.
- Estimated shark size
- Usually 2.5–3.2 m (8–10.5 ft); large animals are longer.
- Bite force
- No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
- Fossil occurrence
- Limited; generalized Carcharhinus teeth are difficult to assign.
- Time range
- Living; limited fossil record
04
FUNCTION
Form follows feeding.
The dentition follows the generalized large requiem-shark pattern and is not reliably diagnostic on its own.
05
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
LivingDusky sharkBroad, slightly oblique serrated upper teeth with narrow, erect, finely serrated lower teeth.Compare visual profile →LivingCaribbean reef sharkBroad triangular, finely serrated upper teeth and narrow lower teeth with small serrations.Compare visual profile →LivingSandbar sharkBroad, serrated high-cusped upper teeth; narrower and more finely serrated lowers.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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