LEMON SHARK

The lemon shark's back is deep yellow (giving it its name); its belly is off-white. It is used extensively in scientific research since it does well in captivity. It is requiem shark that is fairly common along the southeast coast of the USA. The triangular teeth are slightly curved.

These long, thin, sharp teeth are designed to catch slippery fish, the mainstay of the lemon shark's diet. A young lemon shark loses an entire set of teeth, one at a time, every 7-8 days. The teeth are located in rows which rotate into use as needed. The first two rows are used in obtaining prey, the other rows rotate into place as they are needed.

As teeth are lost, broken, or worn down, they are replaced by new teeth that rotate into place. Lemon sharks average 8-10 feet (2.45-3.1 m) long. The largest recorded catch was 12 feet long. It eats mostly fish (including other sharks), but will also eats mollusks and crustaceans. Lemon sharks have been known to attack people.
It lives near the surface and at moderate depths, frequenting bays, docks, and river mouths. The lemon shark is found in the Pacific off Latin and South America, in the Atlantic off the coasts of South America and west Africa, and in the Gulf of Mexico