New records of the ragged-tooth shark, Odontaspis ferox, from the western North Atlantic Ocean, with a summary of regional occurrences

Abstract

Four new records of the ragged-tooth shark (Odontaspis ferox, i.e., smalltooth sand tiger), are reported from recreational and commercial fisheries in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Two specimens of unknown sex were caught in the recreational swordfish (Xiphias gladius) fishery in the northern Gulf of Mexico [about 225 and 250 cm total length (TL)], a mature male was caught in the South Atlantic Bight (about 200 cm TL) by an angler targeting barrelfish (Hyperoglyphe perciformis), and another mature male was caught in the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda (about 275 cm TL) by a commercial fisher targeting Atlantic wreckfish (Polyprion americanus). All four specimens were incidentally caught on rod-and-reel and released alive. The Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Bight specimens reported herein contribute to the limited number of ragged-tooth shark interactions in these regions, while the observation in Bermuda is the first documented record for this locality.