Sand Tiger Shark Tooth
Carcharias taurus
Markings and exact colorations may vary.
A long, thin, needle-like tooth with tiny side cusps.
- Typical size
- Half an inch to 1.25 inches
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Collecting
- Usually legal to collect
- Handling
- Sharp edges
Shed and fossil teeth on open public beaches are usually fine to pick up, but state parks, national seashores and wildlife refuges don't allow collecting.
Very sharp point.
How to tell it apart
- Very narrow, spike-shaped blade
- A small pointed cusp on each side of the main blade
- Smooth edges
Where to find these in Florida
Beaches rated very good or excellent for shark teeth. Each page shows today’s score, the best window and access details.
- Caspersen Beach · Venice
- Englewood Beach (Chadwick Park) · Englewood
- Fort Clinch State Park · Fernandina Beach
- Lighthouse Point Park · Ponce Inlet
- Stump Pass Beach State Park · Englewood
- Turner Beach · Captiva
- Venice Beach · Venice
- Amelia Island State Park · Amelia Island
- Anastasia State Park · St. Augustine
- Bethune Beach · New Smyrna Beach
- Brohard Paw Park · Venice
- Crescent Beach · St. Augustine
Found one?
Photograph it and BeachNut ranks the likely matches with a confidence read, then logs it to your collection with the beach and date.
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Commonly confused with
Lemon Shark ToothNegaprion brevirostris
Sand tiger teeth have two small side cusps at the base. Lemon teeth do not.
Angel Shark ToothSquatina species
Look for tiny side cusplets beside the main cusp: they point to sand tiger, not angel shark. On a worn or broken tooth, missing cusplets alone don't settle it.
More shark teeth in the field guide
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