English Name: Snaggletooth shark
Family: HEMIGALEIDAE
Local Name: Dhaiy bulhi miyaru
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Size: To at least 2.3 m; possibly to 2.4 m,
Distinctive Characters: Amedium-sized shark with blunt, rounded snout. Teeth absent at symphysis (midline)of lowerjaw. Lower teeth near symphysis long and strongly hooked. Upperteeth broad and curved with both
edges serrated. Gill openings long, the longest over three times eye length.
Colour: Grey; palerbelow.
Habitat and Biology: Occurs in coastal waters at depths up to 30 m. Feeds on inshore pelagic and bottom fishes. Viviparous with a yolk-sac placenta; 6-8 young per litter.
Distribution: Indo-West Pacific.
Remarks: Hemipristis c/ongatus appears to be rare in Maldives. The only known record so far is a set ofjaws seen on a R. Maduvari shark-netting dhoni operating in Haa Alifu Atoll. The jaws were saved by one of the
crew only because he had never seen this species before, This also appears to have been the first record from an oceanic island.
