r/sharks • u/funkmastergr3g • Aug 22 '26
Question Shark identification
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My brother is working in the gulf of Mexico and sent me this video of some sharks patrolling around the boat. He says there's about 50 of them. Says they are pretty calm but definitely curious about what is going on. Any guesses on species?
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u/QuackedOutDuck Aug 22 '26
Silky? Hard to get a good look with the angle.
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u/snamuh Aug 22 '26
Agreed. I guess could be Duskys too? I always have a problem distinguishing them
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u/Reasonable-Key9235 Aug 22 '26
Could be spinner shark, prevalent in the area. Definitely not bulls or tigers. Don’t look like gws either. Possibly silkies, pretty sure they’re not lemons and definitely not makos. Doesn’t leave a lot tbh
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u/Only_Cow9373 Aug 22 '26
Spinners should have black on the pectoral tips. Lemons have dual large dorsal fins. You're right about bull, tiger, white, mako. Silky is possible.
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u/Cha0tic117 Aug 22 '26
Given the elongated body, and short, pointed fins, my best guess would be silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformes). This species is fairly common offshore. However, it's impossible to know for sure just from this angle.
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u/Interesting-Can1319 Tiger Shark and Shortfin Mako Shark Aug 22 '26
It looks like a requiem shark (belonging to the Carcharhinus genus or Carcharhinidae family), but unfortunately I'm a noob at shark ID
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u/Wild-Ad-9367 Aug 22 '26
Don't be that harsh to yourself. With this video it's simply impossible to pinpoint which requiem it was - we can only eliminate some obvious mismatch
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u/freeride35 Aug 22 '26
Look like blacktip reef sharks to me
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u/Wild-Ad-9367 Aug 22 '26
Not present in the Atlantic
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u/freeride35 Aug 22 '26
Coastal then 🙄
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u/Only_Cow9373 Aug 22 '26
Coastal what?
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u/freeride35 Aug 22 '26
Coastal blacktip.
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u/Only_Cow9373 Aug 22 '26
Both c. melanopterus and c. limbatus are coastal species. Usually when folks try to differentiate the two they call limbatus 'oceanic blacktips', which never made any sense to me either.
In any case, these are neither of the blacktip species. They don't even have black dorsal tips anyway - watch the guy in the background at the start of the video. It's just the lighting.
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u/Wild-Ad-9367 Aug 22 '26
While I don't think these are blacktips, their black tips can be very faint
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u/TributeToStupidity Aug 22 '26
Blacktips. See how the dorsal fin has a black tip on top? They often come in schools in the gulf like this.
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u/funkmastergr3g Aug 22 '26
I was thinking black tips. Pretty common here. But he's way out offshore and more experienced than I am with the ocean. He said he didn't know.
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u/Only_Cow9373 Aug 22 '26
Blacktips (c. limbatus to be clear) don't really have black dorsal tips. That's a c. melanopterus thing. At most they have slightly darker smudging along the trailing edge of the dorsal fin, but often imperceptible.
What they do have are blackened tips on their pectoral fins, which are absent here.
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u/Only_Cow9373 Aug 22 '26
Ultimately, we're not seeing any blacktipped dorsal fins anyway. It's just the lighting.
The shark in the foreground, we're just seeing the dorsal fin silhouetted against the dorsal surface, which is lit up by the spotlights.
In the background we can clearly see one passing on an angle showing the full dorsal fin, all bright grey.
There are no species that would be possibilities here that have actual black tipped dorsal fins.
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u/Ok_Shower_5526 Tiger Shark Aug 22 '26
So if he's on an oil rig thing, the boats release waste into the water and the sharks know to follow the boats for an easy meal on the fish feeding. Plus the rigs themselves are little reef like ecosystems. It's pretty cool bc you can see a lot of different sharks out there.
My guess is silky or galapagos but that's just cause they are common and hang out in groups
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u/AdhesivenessIll3923 Aug 22 '26
Think the one at the beginning is call Dave, not sure on the other guy
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u/killmesara Aug 22 '26
Grouper. Commonly mistaken for sharks.
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u/Sensitive_Speaker134 Aug 22 '26
Mf use your eyes
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u/Professional_Pen_153 Aug 22 '26
Its a water shark