# Need help identifying shark



## Bonehead-GA

Can you tell me what kind of shark this is? Is this a white shark? It was caught on the ledge at Jupiter in April. It was 10 1/2 feet long.


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## jdhkingfisher

wow. that looks like a white shark


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## J.Sharit

Be hard to tell from that photo. But it is a girthy fat shark but with that angle it's just to hard to tell. Got any others?


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## Sunshine17

White shark as in Great White?


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## feelin' wright

I looks like a white to me. Only other shark I know that has that type of nose is the mako and it appears to grey to mee to be a mako. Damn nice shark bet that was a serious fight.


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## Jaw Jacker

Hard to tell from that photo, but if I had to guess. I say a Big Fat Tiger. This picture is a 10 foot tiger from the edge.


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## jdhkingfisher

no, the nose is pointy in the first pic. definitely not a tiger


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## lobsterman

Jaw Jacker said:


> View attachment 15237
> 
> 
> Hard to tell from that photo, but if I had to guess. I say a Big Fat Tiger. This picture is a 10 foot tiger from the edge.


 
The nose is too pointed for a Tiger. It's either a big Mako or White, just not clear enough picture to determine properly.


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## jdhkingfisher

not a mako either. not bllue enough


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## Realtor

The nose and color makes me thing it's a big Silky or more likely Dusky Shark.


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## Bonehead-GA

That is the only picture i have of the shark. It was a fight on 50# test line. We were bottom fishing catching a lot of aj's and kelp getting broke off. So I found about a 3 foot peice of 400# mono and made a leader out of that. Put a big pinfish on and sent him to the bottom. 2 1/2 hours later we finally got that shark to the boat. Its color was blue gray on the top and the color change to the bottom was broken up like a white shark. you can see it at the tail section in the picture.


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## Jaw Jacker

lobsterman said:


> The nose is too pointed for a Tiger. It's either a big Mako or White, just not clear enough picture to determine properly.


I agree that the nose looks pointed, but your looking at a side veiw. Compair the two Photo, Both noses look pointed from the side, they are shaped about the same and the distance between the eyes and the tip of the nose.


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## Covin

I second big fat tiger. Definitely not a mako. Jaw Jacker hit the nail on the head.


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## lobsterman

http://www.elasmodiver.com/Venice Louisiana Shark Diving.htm


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## captjeffelder

My guess would be a dusky or as some say a sandbar shark. Either way a very nice catch congrats


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## jdhkingfisher

cant be sandbar, it was caught in blue water.


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## captjeffelder

sorry bout that we here in destin call duskys near shore sand bar sharks. they are very plentiful and I have caught them up to 500#. Have caught tigers but no white sharks, definatly doesnt look like any tiger I have caught. Still a good catch


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## flyliner

need some input from those shark catchers in milton or pace, pretty sure they can tell you it is definately not a tiger, or a dusky, or a ....

call chris fischer, he knows what it is.


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## Chris V

The nose isn't that pointy if you look closer. Its more rounded. From the side its pointed, but not from the top view. The grayish color fading to white below without a sharp contrast which would be evident even in this photo also rules out a white. Nose is not pointed enough for a mako and the coloration does not fit. Caudal fin is very asymetrical more like a Carcharhinid, this alone rules out a white or mako which have nearly perfectly symetrical tails. Dorsal and pectoral fins too short to be a sandbar and even in large dusky sharks, they very rarely attain a girth that large. I've caught several dusky sharks in the 9-11ft range and have never seen one anywhere near that girth.

Long upper caudal lobe, coloration, heavy girth with short dorsal and pectoral fins and more rounded than squared nose. Given the time of year and the 10-12 month gestation period after mating in the spring, I would say its a large, pregnant bull shark.


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## Jaw Jacker

Chris V said:


> The nose isn't that pointy if you look closer. Its more rounded. From the side its pointed, but not from the top view. The grayish color fading to white below without a sharp contrast which would be evident even in this photo also rules out a white. Nose is not pointed enough for a mako and the coloration does not fit. Caudal fin is very asymetrical more like a Carcharhinid, this alone rules out a white or mako which have nearly perfectly symetrical tails. Dorsal and pectoral fins too short to be a sandbar and even in large dusky sharks, they very rarely attain a girth that large. I've caught several dusky sharks in the 9-11ft range and have never seen one anywhere near that girth.
> 
> Long upper caudal lobe, coloration, heavy girth with short dorsal and pectoral fins and more rounded than squared nose. Given the time of year and the 10-12 month gestation period after mating in the spring, I would say its a large, pregnant bull shark.


+1 on the Bull shark. I was thinking tiger being out around the edge. Never caught bull that deep.


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## Chris V

Large bulls can be found pretty much anywhere along the shelf and occasionally out further along with sandbar and dusky sharks. I can see from a defense standpoint why a pregnant female would go further offshore where she is more isolated before returning to inshore waters in the spring/early summer to give birth.

The bull is the only shark I can think of that would have such heavy girth at that length with the given attributes.


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## alexa041

Yep, that's a shark alright. I've been fishing in the Gulf my whole life, and I still couldn't identify one shit eater from another unless it is grossly obvious, which this one isn't.


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## sorrydog

Tuna style tail says Mako or White!


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## Chris V

I copied the pic and blew it up to get a more detailed outline. I highlighted the shape of the fins and the round-ness of the snout. The eye is also very small in proportion to the body. The dorsal and pec fins are very broad yet fairly short. The origin of the dorsal is also pretty far forward. Thats a big ole bull.


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## Cast-N-Call

Chris you can't tell a shark from a lobster. The abdominal fins and eye ball size clearly point to this being a rare mega-mouth/whale shark hybrid. These sharks are known to frequent the edge and their main prey are pinfish, what he caught the beast on. Plus if it a bull shark, then where are the horns. I think you need to study your fish id book a little more.


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## Chris V

Cat, your a jack ass


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## samoajoe

I'd say a tiger shark if you were able to see any sort of "striped pattern", otherwise, I'm leaning towards the bull. Either way it's a big ass shark, that's what Dr. Bob Ship would say.


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## OBsession

Chris V said:


> Cat, your a jack ass


Yeah what he said, and futhermore, Cat you're a jackass.


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## SHunter

My first inclination was tigershark. Bulls have a blunt snout.


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## Razzorduck

Gotta go with TunaPopper on this one.


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## Joraca

Bull sharks, tigers, etc. don't have a symmetrical tail. I'd say white shark.

This links shows a big'un caught in Cuba in the 1940s.

http://www.jawshark.com/photos/great white cuban 1940s.jpg

Joraca


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## Chris V

That tail is anything but symetrical. Look at the last page where I blew the imageup to make a cleaner outline. The coloration is not right for a white either.

Where the hell is Karon?


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## CatHunter

i would have to say a sandbar shark by the big wings hes got


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## Joraca

This link:

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/nsrc/profiles.htm

lists "bronzy" as a common color for white sharks, but not bull sharks.

It also shows that the upper tail lobe is about the same in size as the lower lobe in white sharks, but in bull sharks (and in requiem sharks generally) the upper lobe is much larger.

Joraca


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## Yaksquatch

Chris V said:


> That tail is anything but symetrical. Look at the last page where I blew the imageup to make a cleaner outline. The coloration is not right for a white either.
> 
> Where the hell is Karon?


Chris,
Last I talked with Karon, she said she can't get on PFF at work. She's been on GCFC lately though.

Difficult with that picture but I agree, it's a bull. Though, I initially thought tiger; however, the upper lobe of the tail isn't nearly long enough. Definitely NOT a Mako or Great White. This one's nose is pointed and short, Mako & White's have double as much distance from eye to nose. Color's totally wrong, way too much reddish-brown, Whites have a gray back, Makos are blueish purple. Makos and Whites are much more streamlined, have longer pectoral fins and shorter pelvic & anal fins.

Also, when you see a Mako or White, you KNOW what it is, you don't have to ask!!!

Alex


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## Yaksquatch

Joraca said:


> This link:
> 
> http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/nsrc/profiles.htm
> 
> lists "bronzy" as a common color for white sharks, but not bull sharks.
> 
> It also shows that the upper tail lobe is about the same in size as the lower lobe in white sharks, but in bull sharks (and in requiem sharks generally) the upper lobe is much larger.
> 
> Joraca


Good link! Note the diagrams

Bull:









White:









Shortfin Mako:









Longfin Makos:








The shark in the original pic has small eyes and very asymmetrical tail, while Whites and Mako's have very large eyes and symmetrical tails.

Alex


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## Joraca

OK, bull shark.

The dorsal looks only about 1/4 of the way back, apparently due to the water interface.

On the link, the bull shark dorsal is about 1/3 of the way back, while on the while shark, it very nearly 1/2 way back.

I don't see how the shark in the photo can have a dorsal 1/2 way back. Plus, the eye appears small.

Joraca


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## samoajoe

After looking again.....that squared off nose looks like a tiger sharks nose. The snout of a is almost square and this looks like it possible could be. Either way,it is a great question for all us trying to identify it.


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## xyzzy

It's 100% without any question a Bull shark.

Tiger sharks at this size are quite obvious, same with Makos.


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## Go_Sic'm

Agreed. It only takes a glimpse to identify a tiger shark due to the stripes.


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## SHunter

Jueveniles have obvious stripes but adult tigershark stripes often fade.


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## Mudigger

Damn! Next time I get a bad photograph of a fish, I'm gonna post it. This thread has really caught on. Lmao.


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## beeritself

That's definitely a bull shark. A big ole fatty at that. Nice catch.


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