116 Commercial Shark Fishing in the Caribbean Area 



Figure 41 



Family. Eulamidae, Requiem Sharks. Only five gill openings, 

 the fourth or fifth over the origin of the pectoral. Two dorsal fins 

 and an anal, the first dorsal entirely in front of the pelvics; caudal 

 much less than 1/2 the total length of the shark; its axis but little 

 raised, and not lunate, but with a definitely outlined lower lobe; 

 eye with a well-developed nictitating ("winking") membrane in- 

 side the lower lid ; nostril not connected with mouth and without 

 barbel; teeth blade-like with only one main cusp; only one series 

 in service simultaneously along the sides of the mouth, or at the 

 most two, depending on the stage in their replacement. 



Genus Negaprion, Lemon Sharks. No spiracles and no long 

 ridges on the caudal peduncle; mid-point of the base of the first 

 dorsal as near to the axil (armpit) of the pectoral as to the origin 

 of the pelvics, or nearer; no furrow on the lower jaw and only a 

 very short one on the upper; teeth erect and symmetrical toward 

 center of mouth but oblique toward its corners, their cusps smooth- 

 edged with the bases often more or less wavy or irregular. 



Figure 41. Negaprion brevirostris. Lemon ShaiL. 



Description: Trunk moderately stout; snout very short and 

 broadly rounded; gill openings about 1-1/2 to 2 times as long 

 as the diameter of the eye; teeth narrow, triangular, with smooth- 

 edged cusps, those toward the corner of the mouth increasingly 

 oblique and with their outer edges notched; second dorsal fin very 

 nearly as large as the first dorsal (this is the most distinctive 

 character of the shark among the local members of its family) ; 

 lower lobe of the caudal about 1/2 as long as the upper lobe; 

 posterior margins of the anal much more deeply concave than that 

 of the second dorsal ; pectoral about 2/3 as broad as long, thus 

 relatively broader than in other related species of the region. 



Color: Usually yellowish brown above, but sometimes dark 

 brown or bluish gray with yellowish tinge ; white or pale yellowish 

 below, the anal usually yellowish and edged with gray; the other 

 fins with or without dark edges. 



Size: Matures at about 7 to 7-1/2 feet and grows to a maximum 

 length of about 11 feet. 



Habits: This is an inshore species common around docks and 

 in creeks and inlets as well as along open coasts. Around southern 

 Florida its young are born in spring and summer. Probably this 

 occurs at the same season in the Caribbean. It is a fish eater (its 

 diet includes sting-rays), and it readily takes a hook baited with 

 fish. It has been accused of attacks on bathers. 



Range: "Both sides of the Atlantic; from northern Brazil to 

 North Carolina and accidentally to New Jersey on the American 

 coast. This is one of the more plentiful of the larger sharks around 

 southern Florida where it provides a considerable part of the 

 catches of the shark fishery. Its center of abundance probably 

 covers the West Indian-Caribbean region as a whole, although it 



