Author: (Ruppell, 1835)
Rhizoprionodon acutus (Ruppell, 1835)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: snout long, prenarial length greater than 1/2 pre-oral length. Teeth as for genus, erect anteriorly, oblique posteriorly, smooth-edged to slightly serrate. Eyes horizontally oval. Gill openings short. First dorsal fin origin usually in advance of free tip of appressed pectoral fin; pectoral fins relatively short; inter-dorsal ridge present or absent; second dorsal fin origin over posterior third of anal base. Colour: grey to brown above, white below; pectoral fins with pale hind edge. Size: to 105 cm TL.
Habitat: coastal waters, one reported from freshwater; demersal? Food: fishes, squids and cephalopods. Reproduction: viviparous, number in litter 3 to 8; mature at near 60 cm TL.
Distribution: northward to Madeira. Elsewhere, tropical Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Japan.
Complementary iconography. Pietschmann, 1913, pl. 1 | Poll, 1951, fig. 14-15 | V. Springer, 1964, fig. 5-6.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Thillayampalam, 1928: 101 | Setna and Sarangdhar, 1949: 109.