Sharks Codexery

Smoothtooth blacktip shark

A rare requiem shark with smooth-edged teeth and black-tipped fins.

Last updated

Scientists knew this shark from just one specimen until 2008, when they rediscovered it in Kuwait.[1] This shark gets its common name from its teeth, which lack serrations—unlike most of its relatives.[2] In 1985, New Zealand ichthyologist Jack Garrick examined the specimen and described it as a new species.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderCarcharhiniformes
  7. FamilyCarcharhinidae
  8. GenusCarcharhinus
  9. SpeciesCarcharhinus leiodon

Named by Garrick, 1985

Close relatives

Other species of Carcharhinus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Smoothtooth blacktip shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 271323 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Endangered (EN)

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN▲ this species
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2017

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Smoothtooth blacktip shark and a personA 1.3 m long smoothtooth blacktip shark drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.1.3 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 1.3 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Smoothtooth blacktip shark

Where the smoothtooth blacktip shark has been recorded

Where the smoothtooth blacktip shark has been recordedPlaces named in the text; marked places: Persian Gulf, Euphrates, Karun, Arabian PeninsulaPersian GulfEuphratesKarunArabian Peninsula

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Description

The smoothtooth blacktip shark has a fairly robust body with a short, blunt snout.[2] The small, round eyes have nictitating membranes, which are clear inner eyelids that protect the eye.[2] The teeth are narrow and upright with no serrations—a feature shared only by the finetooth shark and young spinner sharks.[2] Triangular flaps of skin sit in front of its large nostrils.[2]

A medium-sized, triangular first dorsal fin with a pointed tip starts above the back part of the pectoral fins.[2] Right where the upper tail fin starts, you'll find a crescent-shaped notch on the tail stalk.[2] The belly is white, and that white color extends up the sides as a pale band.[2]

Biology and ecology

This shark is presumably viviparous—the young develop inside the mother and get nourishment through a placental connection until birth.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Scientists have only recorded the smoothtooth blacktip shark from two spots about 3,000 kilometers apart: eastern Yemen and Kuwait.[4] The waters off Yemen are over 2.5 kilometers deep with a narrow continental shelf and no permanent rivers.[4] Near Kuwait, the Persian Gulf is entirely shallower than 40 meters, and it gets a lot of fresh water from the Tigris-Euphrates-Karun river system.[4] Those waters include everything from estuaries to coral reefs, so we still don't know exactly what kind of habitat this shark prefers.[4]

Scientists based that assessment on its presumed small range and population, plus heavy fishing pressure and habitat degradation around the Arabian Peninsula.[5]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

In 1988, Leonard Compagno looked at its body shape and tentatively grouped it with the spinner shark, blacktip shark, graceful shark, and finetooth shark.[6] Molecular studies in 2011 showed it is closely related to the graceful shark, blacktip shark, and Australian blacktip shark.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Smoothtooth blacktip shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Garrick, J.A.F. (November 1985). Additions to a revision of the shark genus Carcharhinus: Synonymy of Aprionodon and Hypoprion, and description of a new species; "Rediscovery and redescription of the smoothtooth blacktip shark, Carcharhinus leiodon (Carcharhinidae), from Kuwait, with notes on its possible conservation status", Marine and Freshwater Research, 2011, p. 528–539 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Smoothtooth blacktip shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rediscovery and redescription of the smoothtooth blacktip shark, Carcharhinus leiodon (Carcharhinidae), from Kuwait, with notes on its possible conservation status", Marine and Freshwater Research, 2011, p. 528–539; Garrick, J.A.F. (November 1985). Additions to a revision of the shark genus Carcharhinus: Synonymy of Aprionodon and Hypoprion, and description of a new species (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Smoothtooth blacktip shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Field Guide for Sharks of the Genus Carcharhinus", Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2011, p. 70–71; "Rediscovery and redescription of the smoothtooth blacktip shark, Carcharhinus leiodon (Carcharhinidae), from Kuwait, with notes on its possible conservation status", Marine and Freshwater Research, 2011, p. 528–539 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Smoothtooth blacktip shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rediscovery and redescription of the smoothtooth blacktip shark, Carcharhinus leiodon (Carcharhinidae), from Kuwait, with notes on its possible conservation status", Marine and Freshwater Research, 2011, p. 528–539 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Smoothtooth blacktip shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Simpfendorfer, C., "Carcharhinus leiodon", 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Smoothtooth blacktip shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes", Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 319–320; "Rediscovery and redescription of the smoothtooth blacktip shark, Carcharhinus leiodon (Carcharhinidae), from Kuwait, with notes on its possible conservation status", Marine and Freshwater Research, 2011, p. 528–539 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Smoothtooth blacktip shark (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Carcharhinidae)

Atlantic sharpnose shark Rhizoprionodon terraenovaeBorneo broadfin shark Lamiopsis tephrodes

More in Reef sharks

Requiem sharkAbdouniaBlue sharkRiver sharkWhitetip reef sharkCarcharhinusAustralian blacktip sharkBignose sharkBlacknose sharkBlackspot sharkBlacktip reef sharkBlacktip shark

Elsewhere in Sharks

Whale shark · Carpet sharksWobbegong · Carpet sharksGreenland shark · Dogfish sharks and relativesSawshark · Dogfish sharks and relativesHammerhead shark · Hammerhead sharksGreat white shark · Mackerel sharks

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. To which genus does the smoothtooth blacktip shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Carcharhinus.

2. What is the scientific name of the smoothtooth blacktip shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Carcharhinus leiodon.

3. Who first scientifically described the smoothtooth blacktip shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Jack Garrick.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →