Snaggletooth Shark

About the Snaggletooth Shark

This species has two common names: Snaggletooth Sharks and Fossil Shark. They can be found in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the western central Pacific Ocean and Northwest Pacific Ocean at depths of 130 m deep.

Biology and Behaviour:

Snaggletooth sharks are rarely seen. They are light grey or bronze in colour and are slender with a long, broadly rounded snout, large curved, saw-edged teeth in the jaw, and hooked lower teeth that protrudes from its mouth. Their gill slits are long and fins are strongly curved.

Snaggletooth Sharks for females and males mature between two to three years. Males mature at 110 cm long, while females mature at 120 cm long. They can grow up to 240 cm long.

Reproduction and Lifespan:

Snaggletooth sharks are viviparous with a seasonal reproductive cycle between two to 11 per litter. Pups range from 45 to 52 cm long at birth. Females gestate for seven to eight months.

The maximum reported age for Snaggletooth Sharks was 15 years.

Conservation and Tourism:  

Snaggletooth sharks can grow and mature at a rapid rate which suggests that they can sustain the intensive fishing pressure from the unmanaged net and trawl fisheries, except market surveys, indicate that the species have a declining population.

The IUCN lists snaggletooth sharks as vulnerable because of the decline in population, and there are no conservation actions in place for this specific species. Although in northern Australia where fisheries that catch them are well managed with restrictions and finning regulations.

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Snaggletooth Shark Gallery