Extant Hemipristis elongata shark tooth from Atlantic ocean?

[Dino9876]

Hello,

 

I have another tooth from my collection that I am not sure about.
For me it first looked like a very clear case. The shape of the tooth clearly indicates the snaggletooth shark (Hemipristis elongata). I was 100% certain with the ID, the teeth are almost unmistakable. The only flaw: The tooth was found on the coastline of the Atlantic between Florida and Virginia (unfortunately I don't know the exact location). Over 10.000km far from the distribution area of this shark.

 

My question to you: is my ID correct? And if so, how can something like this happen?

 

I hope you can help me. The tooth measures 15mm in leght.

 

Best regards from Germany and stay healthy in this time!

[Al Dente]

1 hour ago, Dino9876 said:

The only flaw: The tooth was found on the coastline of the Atlantic between Florida and Virginia (unfortunately I don't know the exact location)

Did you find it yourself? If not, why are you sure it came from the western Atlantic?

[Coco]

Hi,

 

It is an Hemipristis tooth. But its range doesn't concern the east coast of the United States. : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemipristis_elongata#/media/Fichier:Hemipristis_elongatus_distmap.png

 

Coco

[Dino9876]

34 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

Did you find it yourself? If not, why are you sure it came from the western Atlantic?

I bought the tooth online and asked the seller. It was part of >100 teeth, which were sold completely. The seller told me that he collected all of his teeth on the coast himself.

Edit: The other teeth (e.g. great hammerhead shark, bull shark) would also fit well with the distribution area of the Florida / Virginia coast.

[Dino9876]

Thank your all for your answers!

[Al Dente]

1 hour ago, Dino9876 said:

I bought the tooth online and asked the seller. It was part of >100 teeth, which were sold completely. The seller told me that he collected all of his teeth on the coast himself.

Edit: The other teeth (e.g. great hammerhead shark, bull shark) would also fit well with the distribution area of the Florida / Virginia coast.

I think the most likely explanation would be that the seller mixed up teeth from several localities including the Pacific.

[Dino9876]

23 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

I think the most likely explanation would be that the seller mixed up teeth from several localities including the Pacific.

Yes, that's the most likely explanation. Although I'm not quite sure, because this coast would be quite habitable for the shark. I will research again carefully. Thanks in any case for the answer.

[MarcoSr]

4 hours ago, Dino9876 said:

I bought the tooth online and asked the seller. It was part of >100 teeth, which were sold completely. The seller told me that he collected all of his teeth on the coast himself.

Edit: The other teeth (e.g. great hammerhead shark, bull shark) would also fit well with the distribution area of the Florida / Virginia coast.

 

Your tooth is definitely an extant Hemipristis elongata tooth.  However, your seller isn't finding 100+ extant shark teeth beach combing along the eastern United States.  If that many extant shark teeth of different species like Bull shark and Great Hammerhead were collected along the east coast of the United States by one collector, it was done by fishing for sharks.  So I wouldn't believe what this seller is claiming.  Very large quantities of extant shark teeth get sold by numerous sellers who get them from the fishing industries in the Pacific.

 

Marco Sr.