This bizarre looking shark has enormous eyes for its size. The eyes are somewhat elongated, almost pear-shaped, and point both upward and to the sides. Further, they have a wierd "helmet" like cowl running parallel to and behind the gill slits to form a "hat" over the head. This is in addition to the improbably long tail. In life, bigeye threshers are colored dark purple on top, fading to purple grey on the flanks and pale purple on the underside. This color fades after the shark dies.