The Diet and Dentition of Isistius brasiliensis, with Remarks on Tooth Replacement in Other Sharks

Abstract

Twenty-two central Pacific specimens of the pelagic shark Isistius brasiliensis were captured by midwater trawls and plankton nets operated at night. Eight specimens were dissected; their anatomy was typically squalid and their diet consisted principally of squid. Some stomachs contained swallowed mandibular teeth in quantities sufficient to indicate that the entire mandibular dentition was shed as a unit. One Isistius had both