FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

1334 Sharks
Carcharhinus dussumieri (Valenciennes in Müller and Henle, 1839)
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: Carcharhinus menisorrah (Valenciennes in Müller and Henle,
1839); C. tjutjot (Bleeker, 1852) / Carcharhinus sealei (Pietschmann, 1916).
FAO names: En - Whitecheek shark; Fr - Requin à joues blanches; Sp - Tiburón cariblanco.
Diagnostic characters: A small shark. Body
moderately stout. Snout moderately long and
broadly parabolic or wedge-shaped, its length
usually shorter than mouth width but subequal to the
internasal space; labial furrows very short; anterior
nasal flaps expanded; spiracles absent;gill slits short;
teeth with serrated edges, upper teeth with
narrow-based,strongly oblique cusps and strong,
serrated cusplets;teeth in lower jaw erect to oblique,
without cusplets, serrated and narrow-cusped; first
dorsal fin moderately high, with an angular apex,
posteroventrally sloping, straight posterior margin,
ventral view
of head
upper and lower
tooth near centre
and short inner margin, not falcate; origin of first dorsal fin over pectoral fin inner margins; origin of second
dorsal fin about opposite that of anal fin; second dorsal fin high, its inner margin less than 1.5 times the fin height
and its posterior margin concave; pectoral fins short and not strongly falcate, with narrow, angular apexes. An
interdorsal ridge present or occasionally absent on back. Colour: back greyish or grey-brown, belly whitish;
a black spot on the second dorsal fin is the only conspicuous marking.
Size: Maximum total length about 90 cm; size at birth about 35 to 40 cm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A common, but little-known shark of the continental and insular inshore
waters. Viviparous, number of young 1 to 4, usually 2. Feeds primarily on fish, also crustaceans and
cephalopods; harmless to people. Caught with drifting gill nets and longlines in artisanal and smallscale
industrial fisheries and is commonly marketed for its meat for human consumption.
Distribution: Occurs from the Persian Gulf eastward to Thailand, China, southern Japan, Java, Borneo, and
probably New Guinea and
northern Australia.
Remarks: This species is very
similar to the blackspot shark,
Carcharhinus sealei but has a
triangular rather than falcate
first dorsal fin, more numerous
upper teeth, a broader mouth,
broader pectoral fins, and less
numerous vertebrae.