HalcyonDaze
Contributor
Saw the original link, but I generally avoid anything from "The Daily Fail" (one of the more polite nicknames). Definitely a bull in the article pics; she's definitely big but the camera perspective does magnify that.
As far as Snooty is concerned, there are a few lemons in the area with similarly distended upper jaws. I find it unlikely that's genetic; juvenile mortality in lemon sharks is about 80% so any birth defect is probably going to get weeded out by starvation or predation. It's not an uncommon injury to see inflicted on sharks from fishing; there's photos out there of a mako in New Zealand waters that makes Snooty look like an orthodontics success story. The tail kink looks to me like another shark bit down on it at some point; sometimes the lemons pile up so densely on the bait crate that fins get nipped by accident. She's clearly doing quite well; not only can she still eat but there have been a few seasons when she's shown up with mating scars all over her.
As far as Snooty is concerned, there are a few lemons in the area with similarly distended upper jaws. I find it unlikely that's genetic; juvenile mortality in lemon sharks is about 80% so any birth defect is probably going to get weeded out by starvation or predation. It's not an uncommon injury to see inflicted on sharks from fishing; there's photos out there of a mako in New Zealand waters that makes Snooty look like an orthodontics success story. The tail kink looks to me like another shark bit down on it at some point; sometimes the lemons pile up so densely on the bait crate that fins get nipped by accident. She's clearly doing quite well; not only can she still eat but there have been a few seasons when she's shown up with mating scars all over her.
