 An alternate common name for this species is Knopp's shark, originally used by Florida fishery workers since before the species was described.Phylogenetic studies published by Jack Garrick in 1982 and Leonard Compagno in 1988, based on morphology, placed the bignose shark in the ""obscurus" group" of "Carcharhinus", centered on the dusky shark ("C. obscurus") and the Galapagos shark ("C. galapagensis").The group consists of large, triangular-toothed sharks with a ridge between the dorsal fins.