A requiem family shark, the lemon shark grows to 11 feet at maximum, although it is usually between 5 and 8 feet long. A potentially dangerous shark, it may rest on the bottom in coastal waters in groups of 4 to 6 and become aggressive when in the vicinity of spearfishing.
It is commonly yellow-brown, although it can also be muddy dark brown or dark gray with olive sides and a paler belly. It has a blunt and broad snout that appears rounded from below. The second dorsal fin is almost equal in size to the large first dorsal fin, and the upper lobe of the tail is much larger than the lower.
Lemon sharks are good inshore, light-tackle sportfish that inhabit western Atlantic waters from New Jersey to Brazil; in the eastern Pacific they extend from southern Baja California, Mexico, and the Gulf of California to Ecuador.
