Description: A stout, cylindrical shark characterized by a very long dorsal caudal fin lobe which is about as long as the rest of the body. It has a broad head and a short conical snout. The eyes are not very large. Long, pointed pectoral fins; large first dorsal fin and very minute second dorsal fin. Upper body grey, white below, with white patches extending over pectoral and pelvic fin bases.
Global Distribution: Cosmopolitan in temperate, subtropical and tropical seas. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length: male 760 cm (total length); female 549.0 cm (TL); common length 450 cm (TL); maximum published weight: 348.0 kg.
Reproduction: Ovoviviparous, embryos feeding on yolk sac and other ova produced by the mother.
Maturity: 303.0 cm, range 226 - 400 cm.
Behavioural ecology: Uses its long caudal fin to bunch up and stun prey. Spatial and depth segregation by sex in some populations. May hunt in small groups.
Population structure & migrations: Highly migratory species.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 0 - 550 m, usually 0 - 200 m.
Habitat: Pelagic-oceanic. Coastal over continental and insular shelves and epipelagic far from land. Oceanic although most abundant near land, pelagic at 1-366 m. Young often close inshore and in shallow bays. Some specimens have been found resting on the bottom of 15 - 30 m deep caves, in coastal waters.
Feeding habits: Feeds on schooling fishes (including mackerels, bluefishes, clupeids, needlefishes, lancetfishes and lanternfishes), squid, octopi, pelagic crustaceans, and occasionally seabirds.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species. Currently only taken as bycatch.
It is prohibited to undertake a directed fishery for species of thresher sharks of the Alopias genus.
Conservation status: Global: Vulnerable.
Northeast Atlantic: Near threatened.
Europe: Endangered.
Nutritional information & food safety:
REFERENCES
Brito A., Pascual P.J., Falcón J.M., Sancho A., González G. (2002). Peces de las islas Canarias. Catálogo comentado e ilustrado. Francisco Lemos Editor, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 418 pp.
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Ebert D.A., Stehmann M.F.W. (2013). Sharks, batoids, and chimaeras of the North Atlantic. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes, No. 7. FAO, Rome, 523 pp.
Gibson C., Valenti S.V., Fordham S.V., Fowler S.L. (2008). The Conservation of Northeast Atlantic Chondrichthyans: Repost of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Northeast Atlantic Red List Workshop. IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Groups, NatureBureau, Newbury, UK, 76 pp.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
