Overview

This species belongs to a deepwater-oceanic family that includes the luminous cookiecutter and kitefin sharks. Treat the profile as a provisional guide to small, dark, often poorly seen sharks of the dim midwater world. Dalatiids are usually small to medium sharks with no anal fin, two spineless dorsal fins, and in many species a dark body adapted to deep or open-ocean life. Several species also have light-producing organs. Kitefin, cookiecutter, and related sharks occur in tropical to temperate seas around the world, mainly in oceanic or deepwater settings. Many species have broad but thinly sampled distributions.

This family is most often associated with mesopelagic waters, deep slopes, and offshore environments. Some species make nightly movements toward the surface.

Added from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Why it matters: Some dalatiids glow, helping them blend into faint downwelling light from above.

Common nameLargetooth cookiecutter shark
Scientific nameIsistius plutodus
FamilyDalatiidae
OrderSqualiformes
Max length0.4 m
Depth range0 to 0 meters
RegionGulf of Mexico
DietData not available in this offline release.
HabitatMarine waters (habitat data not available locally).
Why it stands outFamily: Dalatiidae

What this shark is

Dalatiids are usually small to medium sharks with no anal fin, two spineless dorsal fins, and in many species a dark body adapted to deep or open-ocean life. Several species also have light-producing organs.

Where it lives

Kitefin, cookiecutter, and related sharks occur in tropical to temperate seas around the world, mainly in oceanic or deepwater settings. Many species have broad but thinly sampled distributions.

This family is most often associated with mesopelagic waters, deep slopes, and offshore environments. Some species make nightly movements toward the surface.

How it differs from similar sharks

Family: Dalatiidae

Compare it against Cookiecutter Shark, Darkie Charlie, and Euprotomicroides Zantedeschia.

Why it is notable

People rarely meet them alive. Most human relevance comes from unusual bite marks on prey, bycatch, or occasional records from deepwater fisheries.

Species-level taxonomy was verified from Sharkipedia's current species list and taxonomy workbook. In this pass, the narrative fields are cautious family-level placeholders synthesized from broad shark references, chiefly the FAO Sharks of the World catalogue, because a stronger multi-source species-level synthesis was not assembled here without risking invented detail. Replace this with a direct species-level synthesis before publication in the app.

Related shark pages

These links are meant to help readers continue through related species, not force extra clicks.

NOAA close specimen photograph of a cookiecutter shark emphasizing the blunt head and dark body; not to scale.
Isistius brasiliensis

Cookiecutter Shark

Small shark that carves neat circular bites from larger animals.

0.6 m maxLeast concern
Kitefin shark reference photograph showing the thick deep-sea body and broad rounded fins; not to scale.
Dalatias licha

Darkie Charlie

Common name: Kitefin shark

Shark species in Dalatiidae.

1.8 m max