It has shreddy red-gray bark and whiskery bristles on the smaller branches and twigs. The whiskery shark has a moderately stout build, with an almost "humpbacked" appearance. The inflorescence is a cluster of woolly white flowers with many short, whiskery stamens. The flower has five corolla lobes and three whiskery stamens protruding from the center. The cheeks are coated with long, whiskery hairs. Each flower is just under a centimeter long and has protruding whiskery stamens. There are up to 120 whiskery stamens and many pistils. The diet of the whiskery shark consists almost entirely of octopuses. The whiskery shark is an active and highly specialized predator, feeding almost exclusively on octopuses. Whitney won the Kentucky Derby for the second time in 1927 with the colt Whiskery. The center of the open-faced flower is filled with a great many whiskery yellow stamens.