Revised 9 Dec. 2022
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Galeocerdo Müller & Henle 1837 etymology not explained, possibly galeo-, referring to Galeus, genus in which type species, G. arcticus (=cuvier), had previously been assigned, with Galeocerdo described as a “transitional” (translation) genus to other galeoid sharks, and cerdo, from kerdṓ (Gr. κερδώ), with two possibilities: the wily one or thief (perhaps referring to a cunning ability to steal bait from a line), or weasel (a term applied to generally smaller sharks, perhaps referring to their pointed snouts, swift movements and/or rapacious feeding behavior); galeus, from galeós (Gr. γαλεός), also means weasel, in which case name could be a pleonasm (a “weasel weasel”)

Galeocerdo cuvier (Péron & Lesueur 1822) patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of French naturalist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), then most famous for his Le Règne Animal (1816), a survey of the animal kingdom based on comparative anatomy [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]