'They feed on everything from the biggest, toughest apex predators - like white sharks, orcas, everything you can imagine - down to the smallest little critters. 'It turns out that all these bites we see on marine mammals and larger sport and commercial fishes and things really make up a relatively smaller amount of their diet,' said study leader Aaron Carlisle at the University of Delaware.Ĭarlisle noted that it is unique to have an animal that will feed on creatures from the top and the bottom of the food chain. It then uses its robust muscles and circular jaw to extract a chunk of flesh – acting like a toilet plunger with a blade in it, according to one expert.Īlthough they chomp on everything they can get their jaws on in the upper reaches of the ocean, they primarily feed on the more modest critters that they share a habitat with, the surprising new research shows.Ĭookiecutter sharks are distributed throughout the world's tropical and subtropical oceanic waters and only reach lengths of about 20 inches – making it one of the smaller shark species. The snub-nosed, cigar-shaped shark, often considered a parasite, initially attaches to its prey with rubbery lips. The elusive shark species (Isistius brasiliensis) gets its name from its feeding habit of gouging round plugs of flesh from large animals, as if cut out with a cookie cutter. Despite leaving impressive bitemarks, the small but ferocious cookiecutter shark primarily feeds on tiny critters like crustaceans and squid, a new study reveals.
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