daggernose shark
isogomphodon oxyrhynchus latin

The daggernose shark poses little danger to humans due to its small size and teeth.

Daggernose sharks are predators of small schooling fishes.

Daggernose sharks are most common over shallow muddy banks and in estuaries and river mouths.

Harmless to humans, the daggernose shark is caught for food and as bycatch in artisanal and commercial fisheries.

As its common name suggests, the daggernose shark has a very long, flattened snout with a pointed tip and an acutely triangular profile from above.

However, the daggernose shark is capable of shifting the timing of its reproductive cycle by at least four months, possibly in response to varying environmental conditions.

Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus (Daggernose shark)

With long jaws and numerous small teeth, the daggernose shark is well-suited for capturing the small schooling fishes that comprise most of its diet.

The daggernose shark (Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus) is a little-known species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, and the only extant member of its genus.

The dominant shark species within the daggernose shark's range are the smalltail shark (Carcharhinus porosus) and the bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo).

The daggernose shark is found along the northeastern coast of South America, off Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, and northern Brazil.

The daggernose shark is viviparous; once the developing embryos exhaust their supply of yolk, the depleted yolk sac is converted into a placental connection through which the mother delivers sustenance.

The daggernose shark has declined over 90% over the past decade off Brazil, and similar declines have likely also occurred elsewhere in its range as fishing pressure in the region continues to grow more intense.

The first scientific description of the daggernose shark, as Carcharias oxyrhynchus, was published by German biologists Johannes Peter Müller and Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle in their 1839 Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen.

Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus (Daggernose shark)

The daggernose shark (Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus) is a little-known species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, and the only extant member of its genus.