Cartilaginous fish · Squaliformes · Dalatiidae

Cookie Cutter Shark

Isistius brasiliensis

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The cookiecutter shark — known in Spanish as tiburón cigarro, tiburón puro or tollo cigarro — is a small squaliform shark of the family Dalatiidae. This shark is found in warm oceanic waters worldwide, particularly near islands, and has been recorded at depths of up to 3,700 m. It makes vertical migrations of up to 3,000 m each day, coming close to the surface at dusk and descending at dawn. Reaching only 42-56 cm in length, the cookiecutter shark has a long, cylindrical body with a short, blunt snout, large eyes, two small spineless dorsal fins and a large caudal fin. It is dark brown, with light-emitting photophores covering its underside except for a dark "collar" around its throat and gill slits.

Weight

500 g – 2 kg

Size

40 cm – 56 cm

Lifespan

25 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanCarnivore Nocturnal Fish Ocean

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Fun facts

alimentaciónIt feeds by taking small round plugs of skin and flesh out of far larger animals — whales, tuna, even submarines — with a characteristic twisting bite.
It takes perfectly circular bites: it fastens on with its lips like a sucker, sinks in its lower row of teeth, spins on its own axis and pulls away with a cone of flesh, leaving a characteristic round scar seen on whales, dolphins and tuna all over the world.
It has bitten submarine cables, sonar domes and the rubber sheathing of American nuclear submarines, forcing the coating of some equipment to be redesigned.
It is bioluminescent: its whole underside gives off a greenish light except for a dark collar beneath the throat, and that dark silhouette against a glowing background is thought to draw in large predators that come in to attack and end up bitten themselves.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - cartilaginous skeleton (fish)
Habitat & environment: Tropical and temperate oceanic waters of every ocean, down to 3,500 metres deep
Sexual maturity: 5 years
Gestation / incubation: Internal gestation
Litter / clutch size: 9 live young

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isistius_brasiliensis