Cigar shark vs 瓶鼻海豚

Isistius brasiliensis compared with Tursiops truncatus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cigar shark	瓶鼻海豚
Kingdom same	Animalia (动物界)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum same	Chordata (脊索动物门)	Chordata (脊索动物门)
Class	Elasmobranchii	Mammalia (哺乳動物)
Order	Squaliformes (角鲨目)	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)
Family	Dalatiidae	Delphinidae (Oceanic Dolphins)
Genus	Isistius	Tursiops (Bottlenose Dolphins)
Species	Isistius brasiliensis	Tursiops truncatus

Evolutionary Relationship

Cigar shark and 瓶鼻海豚 share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (脊索动物门)

Conservation Status

Cigar shark

LC — Least Concern

瓶鼻海豚

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~600.0K

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cigar shark	瓶鼻海豚
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	45 years
Average Length	—	3.0 m
Average Weight	—	300.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cigar shark

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Chile, Norway, and Taiwan.

瓶鼻海豚

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 12 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (6 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Cigar shark

The cigar shark, also known as the cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis), is a small but remarkable shark in the family Dalatiidae, found throughout warm oceanic waters worldwide in tropical and subtropical latitudes. Reaching only 40–50 centimeters in length, it possesses oversized jaws with large, triangular lower teeth arranged in a saw-like series that cut distinctive circular plugs of flesh from much larger prey—including tuna, dolphins, whales, billfish, and even submarine cables and human bodies. It does not kill its prey but instead latches on, rotates its body, and excises a characteristic cookie-cutter-shaped bite. The cigar shark is bioluminescent, emitting a green glow from photophores on its ventral surface that may serve as counter-illumination or to attract prey from below. It undertakes diel vertical migrations, ascending to shallower waters at night and descending to mesopelagic depths during the day. The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, with a vast oceanic distribution and no targeted commercial fishery. It is occasionally taken as bycatch. The geographic epithet brasiliensis refers to Brazil, where early specimens were described, but the species' range is circumglobal in warm oceans. The cookiecutter shark's feeding strategy is one of the most unusual among elasmobranchs.

瓶鼻海豚

作为研究最广泛、最受认可的海豚物种，宽吻海豚栖息于全球从沿岸浅水到远洋的温暖和温带海域。高度智能，大脑相对体型较大，展示自我认知、复杂交流和社会学习。生活在流动的分裂-融合社会中，合作围捕鱼群。是海洋生态系统健康的关键指示物种。

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇹🇼 Taiwan