Coral World Ocean Park Shark Shallows “Lemon Sharks 1”

Lemon sharks get their name from the color of their skin. However, ours are more of a beige color and that is because of their age. If you look closely at the fins on the sharks’ back you will see that they are more yellow. That is where the color change from juvenile to adult begins and it gradually fades to the rest of their bodies. At full size, which is 9-11 feet, these sharks will have a very vivid yellow color to their skin. Other than their coloration, lemon sharks are very easy to distinguish from other sharks in the wild. The first thing to look at is the shape of the face. Lemon sharks have a very bluntly rounded snout. Most other free swimming sharks have a very pointed snout. The second thing to look at are the dorsal fins (the fins on the back). Though almost all sharks have two dorsal fins, with lemon sharks those two fins are almost equal in size. Most sharks have a very large first dorsal and a much smaller second dorsal. The reason that lemon sharks are different is actually to help them swim faster. A second dorsal fin that is larger is almost like having a second tail. It give this shark greater acceleration through the water to compensate for that flatter face.