Carcharhinus brachyurus, Bronze Whaler Shark [+]
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Elasmobranchii
Order Carcharhiniformes
Family Carcharhinidae
Genus Carcharhinus
species: Carcharhinus brachyurus [+ITIS +WoRMS]
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Description & Behavior
The bronze whaler shark, Carcharhinus brachyurus (Günther, 1870), aka narrowtooth shark, bronze, copper shark and bronzys, reaches a maximum of 3.25 m in length and weighs a maximum of 305 kg. The bronze whaler is a large shark with a blunt, broad snout, narrow bent cusps on the upper teeth, and no interdorsal ridge. They are gray to bronze in color on the dorsal side, white on the ventral side. The fins have similar coloring with the exception of the pelvic fins, which have dusky tips, and the pectoral fins, which have dusky to black tips.
World Range & Habitat
The bronze whaler shark is found in subtropical waters between 45°N-52°S in the western Atlantic off the coast of Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Brazil to Argentina. In the eastern Atlantic this shark is found off the coast of France south to the coast of southern Africa to central Natal, South Africa, and in the Mediterranean. It is thought that 2 separate populations exist in southern Africa. In the western Pacific the bronze whaler is found from Japan to New Zealand, and in the eastern Pacific off the coast of southern California, USA to the Gulf of California in Mexico and Peru.
The bronze whaler is found in offshore waters along continental margins. They occasionally enter inshore waters and large coastal bays. This species is migratory in the northern part of its range, traveling north in spring and summer and south in autumn and winter.
Feeding Behavior (Ecology)
This species feeds on pelagic and bottom bony fishes, cephalopods, smaller sharks, and rays.
Life History
The bronze whaler shark is viviparous, meaning females nourish embryos with placenta and give birth to live young. This species is slow to reproduce.
Conservation Status/Additional Comments
The bronze whaler shark is commercially hunted throughout its range and is a very popular species for sports fishermen. It has been implicated in bites to humans, particularly spearfishermen.
References & Further Research
BioOne ~ CITES ~ Discover Life ~ GBIF ~ Google Scholar ~ ITIS ~ IUCN RedList ~ MarineBio Network ~ NCBI ~ SCIRIS ~ SIRIS ~ Tree of Life Web Project ~ Wikipedia
Search the Web for Bronze Whaler Shark » ARKive ~ Ask.com ~ Ask Jeeves ~ bing ~ deviantART ~ dmoz ~ Dogpile ~ Google Images ~ MySpace Images ~ OceanFootage ~ Picsearch ~ StumbleUpon ~ Yahoo! Images ~ YouTube
