Carcharhinus altimus, Bignose Shark [+]

Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Elasmobranchii Order Carcharhiniformes Family Carcharhinidae Genus Carcharhinus species: Carcharhinus altimus [+ITIS +WoRMS]

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Description & Behavior

The bignose shark, Carcharhinus altimus (Springer, 1950), aka Knopp's shark, is a large shark with a slender body measuring up to 3 m in length and weighing up to 168 kg. It has a long, wide, pointed snout (for which it's named) and well-developed nasal flaps. This species has a prominent interdorsal ridge and long pectoral fins. The pointed first dorsal fin is located above or just behind the pectoral fins and the anal fin is located behind the second dorsal fin. The inner corners of the pectoral fins have black tips. The bignose is gray on the dorsal side, white on the ventral side.

Bignose sharks resemble night sharks, C. signatus, in appearance. The night shark is distinguished by its long rear tip on the second dorsal fin and green eyes.

World Range & Habitat

The bignose shark is found in tropical and subtropical offshore waters in the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida in the US south to Venezuela. In the eastern Atlantic the bignose can be found along the west African coast from Senegal to Ghana, and in the Mediterranean Sea. This species has also been sighted in the western Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and near Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, and India. In the Pacific Ocean the bignose can be found off the coasts of China and Hawaii, and in the Gulf of California south to Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador in the east.

This species inhabits the edges of continental shelves and insular slopes in depths between 0-430 m.

» GBIF occurrence data in Google Earth [Tips] | Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) (World Distribution) [about]

Feeding Behavior (Ecology)

The bignose shark feeds on bony fishes such as mackerels, soles, and batfish, on other elasmobranchs such as dogfish, catsharks, and stingrays, and on cephalopods.

Life History

The bignose shark is viviparous meaning females give birth to live young nourished a placenta sac during gestation. Litter size is between 3-11 pups that measure between 70-90 cm in length. Male bignose sharks reach sexual maturity at around 2 m in length, females between 2.26-2.82 m. Females give birth at different times of the year in different regions. In the Mediterranean, bignose sharks are known to give birth from August to September; off the coast of Madagascar, birth occurs during September and October.