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Cookie cutter sharks : The cookiecutter shark is any of two shark species in the genus Isistius. The smalltooth cookiecutter shark (I. brasiliensis) is more well-known than the largetooth cookiecutter shark (I. plutodus). They get their name from their habit of excising cookie-cutter-shaped plugs of flesh from larger marine animals.
These sharks are small and cigar-shaped, with gray or grayish-brown bodies and lighter fin edges. They have photophores on their lower bodies that glow to attract prey. They attach to prey using their large lips for suction, then carve out flesh with their large, bladelike lower teeth.
Smalltooth cookiecutter sharks have a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate oceans. Though they can attack humans, such incidents are rare. Both species are classified by the IUCN as species of least concern. Cookiecutter sharks include two species: the smalltooth cookiecutter shark and the largetooth cookiecutter shark. The smalltooth cookiecutter shark has a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate oceans, in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.
They live at depths from the ocean's surface down to 3,700 meters (about 12,140 feet).
The largetooth cookiecutter shark lives in small pockets of ocean in widely separated parts of the world at relatively shallow waters (60-200 meters [197-656 feet]), including near the coasts of Alabama, Brazil, the Azores islands, North Africa, and off the coast of Okinawa in Japan. Cookiecutter sharks get their name from their habit of excising cookie-cutter-shaped plugs of flesh from larger marine animals. They attach to prey such as whales, tuna, and white sharks using their large, fleshy lips to create suction. Then, they rotate their bodies and use their teeth to carve out a section of flesh.
These sharks are small and cigar-shaped, with gray or grayish-brown bodies. They migrate deeper into the water during the day and closer to the surface at night in search of prey. Smalltooth cookiecutters are viviparous, with females producing litters of 6-12 pups.
2026-07-21 20:05:01