Carcharhinus porosus
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Carcharhiniformes (Ground Sharks)
Carcharhinidae (Requiem Sharks)
Carcharhinus
Carcharhinus porosus (Smalltail 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
Relatively slender, with a moderately long, pointed snout and a moderately high caudal fin with a moderately well-developed ventral lobe. Preoral snout length is 1.2 to 1.8 times internasal width. Anterior nasal flap is a slender, pointed lobe. Upper labial furrows are short and inconspicuous. Upper jaw and lower jaw have 13 to 15 tooth rows on each side. Teeth located in anterolateral section of upper jaw have narrow, strongly serrated, and slightly oblique to oblique cusps. Gill slits are short; longest (third) is 2.8% to 3.4% of TL, and less than one-third first dorsal fin length. Pectoral fin and first dorsal fin taper distally. Origin of first dorsal fin is above inner margin of pectoral fin. Second dorsal fin origin is above or slightly posterior to midbase of anal fin. Ridge between dorsal fin bases is absent, and caudal peduncle lacks keel.
Color is bluish gray to gray dorsally and lighter ventrally.
Distribution
Western Gulf of Mexico, from about Corpus Christi southward
Western Gulf of Mexico, from about Corpus Christi southward
Habitat Associations
Inner continental shelves to about 36 m
Biology
Food consists of shrimps, small elasmobranchs, and a large variety of bony fishes.
Maximum known size is 150 cm TL
Development is viviparous with a yolk sac placenta. Litters range from two to seven young. Males mature at 75 to 78 cm TL, females mature at 84 cm TL, and young range from 31 to 40 cm TL at birth.
Found in the continental shelves, preferably over muddy bottoms, and especially in estuaries. Feeds mainly on small fishes including young hammerhead and sharpnose sharks, and shrimps. Viviparous, with 2 to 7 young in a litter. Size at birth between 31 and 40 cm. Utilized fresh for human consumption and processed for fishmeal, and liver extracted for oil.
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR), assessed 2019-06-21. Resilience: Very low (K=0.08; tm=6; tmax=12; assuming Fec<10).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Baughman 1943b (as C. cerdale)
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Hoese and Moore 1977
Applegate et al. 1979
Garrick 1982
Castro 1983
Compagno 1984
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Bonfil et al. 1990
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
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 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO.
Compagno, L.J.V., F. Krupp and W. Schneider (1995) Tiburones. p. 647-744. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para los Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Cortés, E. (1999) Standardized diet compositions and trophic levels of sharks. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 56:707-717.
Castro, J.I. (2011) Resurrection of the name Carcharhinus cerdale, a species different from Carcharhinus porosus. aqua, International Journal 17(1):1-10.
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