DiscoverSpeciesSharks and rays
Darkie Charlie
Dalatias licha
- Usual depth380–927 m
- Water temperature8–28 °C
- Best monthsSeptember
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) asobi tsuchiya, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The kitefin shark or seal shark is a species of squaliform shark in the family Dalatiidae, and the type species in its genus. It is found sporadically around the world, usually close to the sea floor at depths of 200–600 m (660–1,970 ft). With a sizable oil-filled liver to maintain neutral buoyancy, this shark is able to cruise slowly through the water while expending little energy. The kitefin shark, the largest luminous vertebrate on record, has a slender body with a very short, blunt snout, large eyes, and thick lips. Its teeth are highly differentiated between the upper and lower jaws, with the upper teeth small and narrow and the lower teeth large, triangular, and serrated. Its typical length is 1.0–1.4 m (3.3–4.6 ft), though examples as long as 5.9 ft (180 cm) have been encountered.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Kitefin shark”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 15 records
- February: 8 records
- March: 14 records
- April: 43 records
- May: 118 records
- June: 52 records
- July: 30 records
- August: 46 records
- September: 245 records
- October: 81 records
- November: 42 records
- December: 29 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 380–927 m · Deepest record: 3,821.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 8–28 °C
Photos
(c) biodiversitygr, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Darkie Charlie, Kitefin shark, Kitfin shark, Black Shark, kitefin shark, Kitefin shark, Darkie Charlie, kitfin shark, Seal Shark, Turtle-head Shark
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Schokoladenhai
- Spanish
- carocho, Carocho, lija, Lija, lija negra, Lija negra, negra, tiburón carocho
- French
- Requin liche, squale liche, Squale liche
- Japanese
- Yoroizame, ヨロイザメ
- Simplified Chinese
- 沙魚, 鎧鯊, 黑沙, 黑鮫
Other scientific names: Dalatias lica, Dalatias lichia, Dalatias sparophagus, Dalatias tachiensis, Pseudoscymnus boshuensis, Scymnorhinus brevipinnis, Scymnorhinus licha, Scymnorhinus phillippsi, Scymnus aquitanensis, Scymnus vulgaris, Squalus americanus, Squalus licha, Squalus nicaeensis, Squalus scymnus
Similar species
Pygmy sharkEuprotomicrus bispinatus
Spined pygmy sharkSqualiolus laticaudus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 4,149 open-data records from 1906 to 2024.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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