Blacktip reef shark
Carcharhinus melanopterus
Sicklefin Lemon Shark
Negaprion acutidens
About
The sicklefin lemon shark is a stocky, yellowish shark that spends most of its time resting on the bottom rather than swimming. It grows up to 3.8 m long, though most stay closer to 2.2 m.
Also known as: sharptooth lemon shark, Indo-Pacific lemon shark
- Length
- 2.2 m · max 3.8 m
- Depth
- up to 92 m
How to tell it apart
It looks almost identical to the American lemon shark, which shares the same stocky, yellowish build. The clearest difference is fin shape: this species has more curved, sickle-shaped fins, while the American lemon shark's fins are straighter.
Appearance
The body is robust and stocky, with a short, broad, rounded snout. Colour is plain yellowish brown or grey above, paler below, with a yellow tinge on the fins. The dorsal, pectoral, and pelvic fins are noticeably sickle-shaped, and the two dorsal fins are close in size.
Habitat
Lives on coastal and reef shelves from the intertidal zone down to about 92 m, favouring calm, murky water in bays, estuaries, lagoons, and over sandy flats and outer reefs. Young sharks shelter in very shallow water around reef flats and mangroves.
Behaviour
It is a sluggish shark, usually seen cruising slowly just above the bottom or lying still, since it can pump water over its gills without needing to swim. It rarely travels far from home, with most tagged sharks staying within about 2 km of where they were first caught.
Is it dangerous?
traumatogenic
Did you know?
While resting on the bottom, it will let cleaner wrasses swim right into its mouth, holding its jaws open and stopping its breathing for up to 150 seconds so the fish can clean its teeth and gills.
Log it in Into the Blue
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