Blacknose Shark

Threat Level: low

BLACKNOSE SHARK

Scientific Name.... Carcharhinus Acronotus
Family Name...... Carcharhinidae

General Information: Blacknose sharks are a relatively small species of sharks. They have a distinctive dark spot on the tip of their moderately long and rounded snout, hence their name (blacknose shark) though it tends to fade with age. The second dorsal fin and tail fin have dark tips. They have the elongate, sleek bodies common of the requiem family of sharks. Both the first dorsal fin and the pectoral fins are small, and upper lobe of the tail fin is longer than the lower lobe, and the gill slits are short.

Size: An adult blacknose shark can average a length of 4.1 and reaching a maximum size of 4.6 feet. This shark commonly weighs about 22 pounds at maturity.

Teeth: Teeth on the upper jaw are moderately narrow and triangular with oblique cusps along with coarser serrations along the bases than the tips. The lower jaw also has cusped serrated teeth with broad bases. The upper jaw of the blacknose shark has 12-13 rows of teeth on each side width 11-12 rows on the lower jaw.

Color: The blacknose shark is gray to greenish gray to brown, and because of this coloration blacknose sharks are often confused with lemon sharks. They have a black or dusky tips on the second dorsal fin and dosal caudal lobe.
They have a black spot under the tip of their snout which makes this shark easy to distinguish from their gray shark species.

Feeding Habits: Blacknose sharks are fast, and voracious species that feed on small fishes including croakers, porcupine fish, porgies, anchovies, spiny box fishes and pinfish. It is also known to feed on octopus and is sometimes eaten by larger sharks.

Social Behaviour: Blacknose sharks occur singly or in groups. When threatened, it exhibits a "hunch" display: this shark arches its back, raises its head, and lowers its tail.

Habitat | Migration | Distribution: The blacknose shark is a common shark in inshore and moderately deep waters of the western Atlantic Ocean ( North Carolina to the Bahamas to south eastern Brazil ), including the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Reproduction: It is viviparous, of a gestation period of 8-9 months long and 3-5 pups in each litter. The blacknose shark mates in the fall and gives birth spring-summer. This species have a very fast growth rate and mature in about 2 years.

Blacknose Shark Attacks: This shark poses little threat to humans and has never been reported in a shark attack case.