Banded kokopu the dorsal and anal fins are positioned close to the tail fin, which is short and square. The caudal peduncle is short and deep, with thick fleshy flanges which join the tail fin. Adults are usually a dark, earthy brown or olive brown, with pale yellow vertical bands along the body. The belly is light coloured and unpatterned. Behind the operculum and above the pectoral fin is a silver or white mark, and sometimes a darker mark behind this. The bands either fade out top and bottom, or fork and crisscross the back of the fish. In small fish the
Largetooth cookiecutter shark and sparsely scattered light-emitting photophores on the belly. Most specimens have lacked the dark "collar" found on the throat of "I. brasiliensis". However, a specimen caught in 2004 off the Azores did possess the collar. The maximum recorded length is . Based on its smaller dorsal and caudal fins, the largetooth cookiecutter shark is believed to be less active than "I. brasiliensis" and an overall weak swimmer. Much of its body cavity is occupied by an enormous oil-filled liver, which allows it to maintain neutral buoyancy in the water column with little effort. Unlike "I. brasiliensis", this shark possesses binocular