Summary ³

The lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) is a stocky, yet powerful shark named for its yellow color. A member of the family Carcharhinidae, lemon sharks can grow to be up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in length. Lemon sharks are often found in shallow subtropical waters and are known to inhabit and return to specific nursery sites for breeding. Often feeding at night, these sharks use electroreceptors to find their main source of prey, fish. Lemon sharks enjoy

Description ⁴

  Common names: shark (English), tiburón (Espanol), cazón (Espanol)
 
Negaprion brevirostris (Poey, 1868)


Lemon shark


A large stocky shark; snout short and broad, somewhat rounded; eyes small, with lower eyelid;  no spiracle; lip furrows at corners of mouth; mouth arched, ends well past eye; upper and lower front teeth with a single narrowly triangular straight point, mainly smooth, large fish have serrations on bases of upper teeth; 5 gill slits, last 2 over pectoral; spiracles usually absent (occasionally with very small spiracles); no ridge on back between dorsal fins; origin of first dorsal fin behind rear margin of pectoral fins; second dorsal fin 80-100% size of first; pectoral fins broad and slightly curved; anal fin large, a little smaller than second dorsal, with strongly notched rear margin;  pit on top of tail base is longitudinal, straight; tail asymmetric, with well developed lower lobe.


Pale yellow brown on back and sides, yellowish or whitish below.


Attains about 340 cm; size at birth 60-65 cm.

A common inshore shark seen in a variety of habitats including rocky reefs, estuaries, and river mouths (may enter fresh water).

Depth: 0-90 m.

Tropical waters of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific (southern Baja and the Gulf of California to Peru.   

Distribution ⁵

Western Atlantic: New Jersey, USA to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean; also in Gulf of Mexico

Size ⁶

Length max (cm): 340.0 (S)

Size ⁷

Maximum size: 3400 mm TL

Diagnostic description ⁸

A brownish shark with yellow overtones but no conspicuous markings. Large second dorsal fin nearly same size as first dorsal (Ref. 26938).

I dnature guides ⁹

Identification key for shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific

Habitat ¹⁰

Habitat Type: Marine

Life cycle ¹¹

Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Viviparous, placental (Ref. 50449), with 5 to 17 embryos (Ref. 9253). Both male and female during precopulatory and courtship swim with body axes in parallel (Ref. 49562, 51112). During copulation, the pair performs coordinated swimming (Ref. 49562, 51112).

Reproduction ¹²

Egg Type: Live birth, No pelagic larva

Link to Access Genomic Data ¹³

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=7821&lvl=0

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/76042652@N00/3402305503
2. Wikimedia Commons, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lemon_shark.png/460px-Lemon_shark.png
3. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negaprion_brevirostris
4. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/26219485
5. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) WoRMS for SMEBD, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/28471431
6. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/2758263
7. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishWise Professional, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/24179595
8. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/20846586
9. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Discover Life and original sources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11586450
10. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28868668
11. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/20846590
12. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/2758261
13. (c) matbio, all rights reserved

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• FishBase
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• VertNet
• World Register of Marine Species

Range Map

(c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

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