Table 5.

Positive criteria to identify cookiecutter bite marks on human corpses recovered from the ocean

Criteria	Expected ranges of values
Environmental criteria
Geographic distribution	Between 20th parallels N and S
Depth	Surface—3 800 m
Animal criteria
Feeding habit	Opportunistic feeder Kleptoparasitism (removal of plug of flesh)
Victim criteria
Median number of bites	7 (IQR 3 ∼ 13)
Sexual dimorphism	Males and females equally bitten
Lesion criteria
Shape	Elliptical or circular
Edges	Neat and sharp, possibly with tooth notches
Major axis	<10 cm
Area	<10 cm2
Substrate	Fat tissue or superficial layer of muscle
Depth	Moderate