Elasmobranch (sharks, skates, and rays) skin is a biological network composed of dermal denticles and underlying collagen fibers. Elasmobranch fishes have variable skin thickness, where female skin is up to 50% thicker and has larger angles in the collagen network than males. The increased thickness protects females from injury during mating behaviors and larger ventral collagen fiber angles accommodate body expansion and deformation during feeding and pregnancy. We evaluated anisotropic tensile mechanical properties of silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) skin taking into account sex, testing orientation (hoop or longitudinal), dermal denticle density, and collagen fiber angle as effects. We predicted that mechanical properties would be greater in skin from females, and that denticle density and collagen fiber angle would increase with mechanical properties. We dissected skin from sharks from between the two dorsal fins, including the dorsal and ventral surfaces. We cut each piece of skin into a grid of 5x5cm squares of skin, and each square was photographed with a Leica stereoscopic microscope to quantify collagen fiber angle and dermal denticle density. Skin was tested using an Instron E1000 to examine anisotropic mechanical data at 2 mms-1 strain rate. We found that max load (N) and load at fracture (N) were significantly greater in female silky shark skin compared to males. We found that shark skin tested the hoop orientation had greater max loads (N), stiffness (MPa), and ultimate strength compared to the longitudinal direction. Finally, we found that dermal denticle density increased significantly as max load (N), strength (MPa), and toughness (MPa) decreased. This study adds to our understanding of the impacts of skin morphology on function.