# Spinner Vs. Blacktip



## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Spinner sharks have moved in close on the Texas Upper Coast in the last few weeks. A lot of people have been misidentifying them as blacktips, which can potentially get you in trouble because spinners have to be 64" to keep while blacktips have to be 24". I thought I'd make this visual to help out with identification.

The main way to tell the difference between the 2 is that a spinner usually has a black tip on its anal fin while a blacktip usually doesn't... Notice I said usually. It is possible for a spinner to lack a black tip and for a blacktip to have a black tip.









Blacktip above and spinner below

The better way to tell the difference is to learn some of the physical characteristics of the fish. The spinner has a longer more pointy snout and a smaller more triangular shaped dorsal fin. Also, the pectoral fin is further apart from the dorsal fin with the spinner shark than the black tip. When you draw a vertical line from the posterior end of the pectoral fin there will be some intersection with the anterior end of the dorsal fin with blacktips while spinners will have no intersection.


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

Good info, thx.


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Here is a couple more pics

Anal fin comparison. 









Here is a cool pic someone posted on facebook of a spinner and a blacktip both with black tips on their anal fins. That method of identification isn't 100%, which is why its important to learn the physical features.


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