A chemical investigation of the liver oil from the shark Squalus japonicus Ishikawa, collected in Quy Nhon bay led to the isolation of four compounds. Their structures were determined to be cholesterol (1), cholesteryl palmitate (2), palmitic acid (3) and 1-0-hexadecyl glycerol (4) by mean spectroscopic methods including ESI-MS, 10- and 2D-NMR.