Oceana | Protecting the World's Oceans

Easily identified from other grey sharks by a black or dusky spot beneath the snout tip, the blacknose shark has an unusually fast growth rate. Blacknose sharks reach maturity in just two years and produce three to six young at a time.

The Caribbean reef shark is found from the coast of North Carolina to the coast of Brazil. As the name suggests, this species is found most often around coral reefs and is considered the most abundant reef shark in its region.

Among one of the slowest growing sharks in the world, the dusky shark takes 20 years to reach maturity and has a 16 month gestation period. This low rate of increase makes dusky sharks particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

Globally, the dusky shark is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. The Gulf of Mexico population suffered a 79 percent decline between the 1950s and the 1990s. Their main threats include overfishing and bycatch on commercial longlines in the swordfish and tuna fishery.

The lemon shark is found down to a depth of about 90 meters, but pups remain in shallow water for several years. Lemon sharks are known to withstand changes in salinity and can even be found in fresh water.

Nurse sharks are a bottom-dwelling, docile species found in a variety of habitats which include continental shelves, coral and rocky reefs, mangroves and sand flats. Nurse sharks are equipped with long barbells on their snout to locate benthic prey.

This seasonally migratory species has a stocky body and short snout. Porbeagle sharks are found around the world, but adjacent populations appear to be distinct. This species prefers colder waters and is, in fact, endothermic.

The porbeagle shark is caught as a target and bycatch species in commercial fisheries for its high-value meat. Directed longline fisheries seriously depleted the northeast Atlantic population and less than one percent of the Mediterranean population remains from a century ago.

Sandtiger sharks are also known as the grey nurse shark and the spotted ragged-tooth shark. Sandtiger sharks have one of the lowest reproductive rates of any shark, giving birth to only one or two young every couple of years.

Once a population is depleted, recovery is especially challenging due to their life history. Smaller populations are also much more susceptible to disease.

Possibly the fastest shark and certainly one of the most active, the shortfin mako shark is only found in tropical and warm temperate seas. During summer months, shortfin makos follow patches of warm water. Shortfin mako sharks are both targeted by longline fisheries for their meat and caught incidentally as bycatch.

The spiny dogfish, also known as the spurdog, is found within all of the world’s oceans. Spiny dogfish are caught for a variety of purposes which include: fish and chips, shark fin soup, fertilizers, liver oil, pet food and as a popular dissection specimen in academic science labs.