First record of the ragged-tooth shark, Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810), in the Venezuelan Caribbean

Abstract

One specimen of the ragged-tooth shark, Odontaspis ferox, was caught by a commercial shark fishery to the north of Cape Codera (10° 56′ N, 66° 02′ W), northeastern Venezuela. The specimen (sex unidentified, ∼ 180 cm TL, ∼ 30 kg) was identified on the basis of its dry jaw and characteristic dentition: which comprise teeth moderately large, with prominent narrow cusps and two or three pairs of lateral cusplets. This is the first record of O. ferox in the Venezuelan Caribbean, and this finding complements the knowledge of geographic distribution of this rare species in the Western Central Atlantic.