Alopias vulpinus
Thresher Shark
Collection Details
Event Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Lamniformes (Mackerel Sharks)
Alopiidae (Thresher Sharks)
Alopias
Alopias vulpinus (Thresher Shark)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Fusiform body, moderately long conical snout, very long caudal fin with moderately developed subterminal notch. Eye is of moderate size and does not extend to dorsal side of head. Dorsal profile of head is convex and lacks horizontal grooves. Labial furrows are present. Teeth are relatively small with slightly curved cusps. Each jaw has more than 58 tooth rows. Pectoral fin is falcate with acutely pointed tip. Base of first dorsal fin is about midway between pelvic fin base and pectoral fin base. Caudal fin has moderately large subterminal notch.
Brown to black with metallic hues dorsally and white ventrally. White color of belly extends onto base of pectoral fin as a broad band.
Distribution
Newfoundland to Florida, Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate waters, coastal to oceanic waters from the surface to 366 m
Biology
Squids, octopods, pelagic crustaceans, and pelagic bony fishes
Maximum known size is 549 cm TL
Litters consist of two young, although four young have occasionally been reported. Males mature at 319 to 420 cm TL, females mature at 376 to 549 cm TL, and young range from 114 to 150 cm TL at birth.
Coastal over continental and insular shelves and epipelagic far from land (Ref. 30573, 43278, 58302). Oceanic although most abundant near land, pelagic at 1-366 m (Ref. 58302). Young often close inshore and in shallow bays (Ref. 5578). Feeds on schooling fishes (including mackerels, bluefishes, clupeids, needlefishes, lancetfishes and lanternfishes), squid, octopi, pelagic crustaceans, and rarely seabirds (Ref. 247). Ovoviviparous, embryos feeding on yolk sac and other ova produced by the mother (Ref. 43278, 50449). Uses its long caudal fin to bunch up and stun prey (Ref. 2850). Spatial and depth segregation by sex in northwestern Indian Ocean populations (Ref. 247). A few attacks on boats are doubtfully attributed to this species, but it is otherwise apparently harmless to humans, though the size of adults of this species command respect (Ref. 247). May cause damage to fishing gear (Ref. 6885). Valued for its meat, liver, hide, and fins; utilized fresh, dried-salted, smoked, and frozen (Ref. 9987).
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2018-11-06. Resilience: Low (K=0.1; tm=5-7; tmax=19; Fec=2-4).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Hoese and Moore 1977
Applegate et al. 1979
Castro 1983
Compagno 1984
Quero 1984d
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Compagno, L.J.V. (1984) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome, FAO.
Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno and T. Yoshino (1984) The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Vol. 1. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan. 437 p. (text).
Compagno, L.J.V., D.A. Ebert and M.J. Smale (1989) Guide to the sharks and rays of southern Africa. New Holland (Publ.) Ltd., London. 158 p.
Gilmore, R.G. (1993) Reproductive biology of lamnoid sharks. Environ. Biol. Fishes 38(1-3):95-114.
Compagno, L.J.V. (1998) Alopiidae. Thresher sharks. p. 1269-1273. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO identification guide for fishery purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific Vol. 2. Rome: FAO.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Compagno, L.J.V., D. Dando and S. Fowler (2005) Sharks of the world. Princeton field guides. Harper Collins Publishing Ltd., London. 368 p.
Weigmann, S. (2016) Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity. J. Fish Biol. 88(1):1-201. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12874
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