Instantly separable from the other gray requiem sharks by one feature: the first dorsal fin is enormous, triangular, and set far forward, standing higher relative to the body than in any other shark of its size. The animal itself is stocky and brown-gray, usually about 2 m (6.5 ft) and recorded to 3 m (10 ft), with a short rounded snout and a ridge between the dorsal fins.
It is a bottom shark of soft ground rather than reef, working sand, mud and the mouths of bays for rays, small sharks and fish, mostly at depth and mostly at night. Adults segregate by sex for much of the year and travel in loose same-sex groups.
What this species is really known for is its nurseries. Females return to shallow, sheltered, low-salinity bays to give birth, and the pups stay in that same nursery for years before moving out, which concentrates an entire generation into a handful of small, fragile places. Damage to one bay costs a whole cohort, and this is one of the clearest cases in fisheries science of a shark whose fate is tied to specific coordinates rather than to the open sea.
Thick-skinned, fin-heavy and slow to mature, it has been a primary target of the fin trade. Listed as Endangered.
How to recognise it
first dorsal fin very tall and triangular, set far forward
short rounded snout, stocky brown-gray body
ridge of skin between the dorsal fins
over sand and mud rather than reef
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