 German biologists Johannes Müller and Jakob Henle originally described the speartooth shark as "Carcharias (Prionodon) glyphis", in their 1839–41 "Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen".They based their account on a stuffed juvenile female long, of unknown origin (possibly the Indian Ocean or the South China Sea).In 1843, Swiss-American zoologist Louis Agassiz proposed the new genus "Glyphis" for this species and a fossil relative from Britain, "G. hastalis".