 The skin is very thick and bears well-calcified dermal denticles; each denticle has an arrowhead-shaped crown with three posterior points, mounted on a short stalk.The dorsal coloration is distinctive, consisting of 5–7 thick, parallel, dark stripes running from the snout to the caudal peduncle on a variably grayish or brownish background; the stripes become broken near the tail and the belly.In some sharks, the main stripe on either side may fork behind the eye, the stripes may be split in two by lighter central lines, or one or more large dark spots may be present.