Critically Endangered
Daggernose shark
Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus
Daggernose shark is a shark or ray in the family Carcharhinidae (order Carcharhiniformes) — Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus, recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
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. The second dorsal fin is about half as tall as the first and located over or slightly ahead of the anal fin. The anal fin is smaller than the second dorsal fin and has a deep notch in the rear margin.
Males attain a length of 1.4 m (4.6 ft) and females 1.6 m (5.2 ft). The maximum known weight is 13 kg (29 lb).
Range and habitat
The daggernose shark is found along the northeastern coast of South America, off Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and northern Brazil. It reportedly occurs as far south as Valença in the central Brazilian state of Bahia, though fishery surveys have not detected this species in the area and it is apparently unknown to local fishermen. An inhabitant of coastal waters at a depth of 4–40 m (13–131 ft), the daggernose shark prefers highly turbid waters and decreases in number with increasing water clarity.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
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. Known prey taken include herring, anchovies, catfish, and croakers.
In crisis
Daggernose sharks are predators of small schooling fishes. Harmless to humans, the daggernose shark is caught for food and as bycatch in artisanal and commercial fisheries. Limited in range and slow-reproducing, it has been assessed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in light of a steep population decline in recent years.
The current population is believed to be extremely low, with no more than 250 individuals believed to be in existence as of 2023. Indeed, it may even be in reproductive collapse, in that case it will likely become extinct in the near future.
Daggernose shark is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Daggernose shark, Wikidata item Q942155. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
