Shark ID

[dancalhoun12]

Does anyone know what kind of shark this is? I caught it off the east coast of florida and have no idea what it is.

[belizesailor]

Bard to tell that young...and your thumb is over the tip of the tail. Do you remember what the very tip of the tail looked like?

[CruiseN]

https://www.sharks.org/species

I don't know.
Address has pictures of sharks though with association to species name.

Looks like a gorgeous little fellow.

[dancalhoun12]

This picture has a better view of the fin I hope this helps I’m really curious to know what it is.

[Don C L]

Just a guess, but Blacktip shark.
https://www.2coolfishing.com/attachm...-2-jpg.360145/

Welcome aboard, by the way.

[Wotname]

Welcome aboard CF.

Its a Baby Shark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqZsoesa55w

[StuM]

Yep, looks like a juvenile black tip reef shark

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by StuM

Yep, looks like a juvenile black tip reef shark

Yeah, I think the Black tip reef shark is only a Pacific and Indian ocean inhabitant, I'm not sure if this one is related. Might be.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Yeah, I think the Black tip reef shark is only a Pacific and Indian ocean inhabitant, I'm not sure if this one is related. Might be.

Darn it, I thik you're correct. There is apparently a difference between "blacktip Shark" and "Blacktip Reef Shark" The latter is indo-pacific, the former is more widespread, including the Caribbean.

[StuM]

But then again, we run into the problem of "popular taxonomy":
:
https://rushkult.com/eng/scubamagazi...caribbean-sea/


"2) Blacktip Reef Shark

These are the second most commonly spotted shark in the Caribbean even though they are quite timid compared to other species of shark. They are easily recognizable by the black tip or edge on their pelvic, dorsal, pectoral or caudul fins. Usually they will swim around in groups, comprised of both juveniles and adu


Then we get:
https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wiki...reef_shark.htm

The blacktip reef shark, Carcharhinus melanopterus, is a shark of tropical and warm temperate seas. It is often confused with the blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus.
...
One of the most common sharks found in shallow (sometimes as shallow as 30 cm) water around coral reefs of Indo-Pacific and Caribbean waters.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, dancalhoun.

[sanibel sailor]

dogfish?

[GordMay]

Field Key to Sharks Encountered in the U.S. Atlantic ➥ https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/di...arks/id-guide/

FWIW: a 'Google' search returned about 4,540,000 results, for “shark identification guide”
➥ https://www.google.ca/search?q=shark...client=gws-wiz

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by dancalhoun12

This picture has a better view of the fin I hope this helps I’m really curious to know what it is.

Well crap, the tail tip is flopped over in that one. Im looking for a notch/lobe on the tip of the tail.

...and a lot of species of shark look very similar at that age.

[belizesailor]

Florida Museum has a good Atlantic Shark ID site. It walks you thru a series of anatomical questions to ID the species. Some of the questions are difficult to answer given the image quality posted.

Link to their site:

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/di...s/id-guide/#29

As best I can tell it is an Atlantic Sharpnose Shark.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/di...n-terraenovae/


Give it a try and see what you come up with!