 In 1862, American ichthyologist Theodore Gill coined the genius "Isogomphodon" for this species, from the Greek ' ("equal"), ' ("nail" or "peg"), and "" ("tooth").However, "Isogomphodon" was subsequently relegated to being a synonym of "Carcharhinus", until it was resurrected by shark authority Stewart Springer in 1950.Regardless of its taxonomic validity, "Isogomphodon", along with the genera "Nasolamia" and "Prionace", is closely related to "Carcharhinus".