Hooktooth Shark

About the Hooktooth Shark

Hooktooth Sharks are light grey or bronze above and white underneath. Its dorsal fins are dusky or black at the tips.  

They can be found in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean near countries such as Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Indonesia. They typically swim at the surface of the ocean to 60 m deep.

Biology and Behaviour

Hooktooth sharks feed on small fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans.

They are small, slender sharks with an angular, moderately long snout. They have relatively large eyes with nictitating eyelids and small spiracles which help supply oxygen to the eyes and brain. They have long gill slits and a long parabolic mouth with protruding lower teeth. Their upper teeth have distal cusplets but are not serrated and their lower teeth are long, hooked smooth-edged cusps. Thus, giving their name: the hooktooth shark. 

Reproduction and Lifespan

Hooktooth Sharks are viviparous and females give birth to four pups. Young hooktooth sharks are at least 20 cm long at birth. Hooktooth sharks grow to 100 cm long, and males mature between 83 cm to 97 cm.

Conservation and Tourism

The IUCN lists Hooktooth Sharks as vulnerable, but there are no conservation actions in place.

They are sometimes caught by inshore gillnet fisheries and by small-scale longlining. There seems to be a population decline in some areas (for example off the coast of Indonesia) because they are no longer seen.

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Hooktooth Shark Gallery