sharkling

plural sharklings

1. A small, young, or immature shark.

   Least I'm not as schizo as hybrid Tina was— that sharkling did one rough mutation.

   1997, Ron Dakron, Hammers

   3 more examples

   A sharkling is more easily disposed of, for his teeth will set him free, though the hook be attached to the stoutest gimp, and as he fights madly he is pretty certain in a few moments to have severed the gut.

   1888, William Senior, Near and far: an angler's sketches of home sport and colonial life - Page 258

   Now for many days she has no rest at all With the solicitude of the mother hen for her chicks she watches over that group of sharklings, shepherded by the pilot whom they are rapidly outgrowing, sheltered in her bosom and fed, yes fed, though often the mother feels as if vultures were tearing at her liver.

   1904, Ellery Sedgwick, Leslie's Monthly Magazine - Volume 58 - Page 604

   Gary muttered, for he had seen what trailed the big gray shark almost like a part of her — six sharklings that followed her every movement with perfect precision.

   1970 Feb, Boys' Life, page 64