WHAT TO LOOK FOR
This is a medium-sized cylindrical shark with a short, blunt snout, and thick, fringed lips. Its spineless dorsal fins originate behind the pectoral fin rear tips, with the base closer to the pectoral than the pelvic fin bases; the second dorsal fin is larger. It has a weak ventral caudal fin lobe, and most of the posterior margins of its fins are translucent.

COLOR
Brown to blackish.

SIZE
When born, the shark is approximately 1 ft [30 cm] long. Males mature at a length of 2.5 to 5.2 ft [77 to 159 cm], while females mature at 3.8 to 5.2 ft [117 -159 cm]. Their maximum length is 5.2 to 6 ft [1.59 to 1.82 m].

TEETH
Lower teeth are serrated.

HABITAT
They prefer deepwater between 121.4 to 5905.5 ft [37 to 1800 m], but mainly live over 656.2 ft [200 m] deep. They frequent warm-temperate and tropical outer continental and insular shelves and slopes, usually on or near the bottom.

DISTRIBUTION
Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

BIOLOGY

• Prey – Mainly deepwater fishes, but may take bites out of large, live prey.

• Reproduction – Ovoviviparous with 10-16 pups per litter.

BEHAVIOR
They hover above the bottom (large oil-filled liver provides neutral buoyancy), and they swim well off the bottom. They are solitary hunters.

STATUS
Fisheries use them for meat and the squalene, causing rapid depletion of their populations.