Limited in range and slow-reproducing, it has been assessed as Critically Endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature in light of a steep population decline in recent years.

[3] The first scientific description of the daggernose shark, as Carcharias oxyrhynchus, was published by German biologists Johannes Peter Müller and Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle in their 1839 Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen.

In 1862, American ichthyologist Theodore Gill coined the genius Isogomphodon for this species, from the Greek isos ("equal"), gomphos ("nail" or "peg"), and odous ("tooth").

[5] The daggernose shark is found along the northeastern coast of South America, off Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and northern Brazil.

[4] It reportedly occurs as far south as Valença in the central Brazilian state of Bahia, though fishery surveys have not detected this species in the area and it is apparently unknown to local fishermen.

[6] Its range encompasses a wide continental shelf with a humid tropical climate, extensive mangroves, and draining by numerous rivers including the Amazon.

[1] As its common name suggests, the daggernose shark has a very long, flattened snout with a pointed tip and an acutely triangular profile from above.

[4] The body is robustly built, with large, broad, paddle-like pectoral fins that originate under the fifth gill slit.

[1] Its elongated snout and tiny eyes are likely consequences of living in murky sediment-laden waters, reflecting an adaptive emphasis on electroreception and other rostral senses rather than vision.

The snout bears a superficial similarity to the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), some Apristurus catsharks, and the long-nosed chimaeras, all found in the deep sea.

However, the daggernose shark is capable of shifting the timing of its reproductive cycle by at least four months, possibly in response to varying environmental conditions.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Critically Endangered, as it has a limited distribution and is highly susceptible to overfishing due to its low reproductive rate.