Prionace glauca
Blue Shark
Collection Details
Event Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Carcharhiniformes (Ground Sharks)
Carcharhinidae (Requiem Sharks)
Prionace
Prionace glauca (Blue 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
Slender body, long slender snout, moderately high caudal fin with well-developed ventral lobe, preoral snout length 2 times internasal width, anterior nasal flap broad and triangular, upper labial furrows very short and inconspicuous, 24-31 tooth rows in upper jaw, 25-34 in lower jaw, teeth in upper jaw with broad, triangular, curved, and serrated cusps, gill slits of moderate size with papillose gill rakers, pectoral and first dorsal fin taper distally, origin of first dorsal fin behind posterior tip of pectoral fin, second dorsal fin small (about half height of first dorsal fin), ridge between dorsal fin bases absent, caudal peduncle with low keel
Dark indigo blue dorsally and white ventrally, fins lack distinct markings
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Newfoundland to Argentina
Rarely recorded in the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate oceanic and occasionally coastal waters
Biology
Variety of squids, elasmobranchs, bony fishes, occasionally sea birds and mammal carrion, most prey are epipelagic
Maximum known size at least 383 cm TL
Viviparous with yolk sac placenta, litters range from 41 to 135 young, males mature at 182-281 cm TL, females mature at 221-323 cm TL, young range from 35-44 cm TL at birth
Oceanic, but may be found close inshore where the continental shelf is narrow (Ref. 6871, 58302). Usually found to at least 150 m (Ref. 26938). Maximum size from Ref. 128029. Reported from estuaries (Ref. 26340). Epipelagic, occasionally occurs in littoral areas (Ref. 58302). Feeds on fishes (herring, silver hake, white hake, red hake, cod, haddock, pollock, mackerel, butterfish, sea raven and flounders (Ref. 5951)), small sharks, squids, pelagic red crabs, cetacean carrion, occasional sea birds and garbage (Ref. 5578). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Sexual dimorphism occurs in skin thickness of maturing and adult females (Ref. 49562). May travel considerable distances (one specimen tagged in New Zealand was recaptured 1,200 km off the coast of Chile) (Ref. 26346). Potentially dangerous to humans (Ref. 6871, 13513). Marketed fresh, dried or salted, and frozen; meat utilized for consumption, hides for leather and fins for soup (Ref. 9987). Sexually mature at 250 cm long and 4-5 years old. The female gives birth up to 80 young measuring 40 cm long, gestation lasts almost a year (Ref. 35388). Produces from 4 to 135 young a litter (Ref. 26938). Minimum depth from Ref. 125614.
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT), assessed 2018-11-06. Resilience: Low (rm=0.031; K=0.16; tm=6; tmax=20; Fec=4-135).
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; gamefish.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Clarke and Stevens 1974
Pratt 1979
Tricas 1979
Castro 1983
Branstetter 1984
Compagno 1984
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
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.
Clarke, M.R. and J.D. Stevens (1974) Cephalopods, blue sharks and migration. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 54:949-957.
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.
Compagno, L.J.V. and V.H. Niem (1998) Carcharhinidae. Requiem sharks. p. 1312-1360. 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.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Harvey, J.T. (1989) Food habits, seasonal abundance, size, and sex of the blue shark, Prionace gluaca, in Montery Bay, California. Calif. Fish Game 75(1):33-44.
Muus, B.J. and J.G. Nielsen (1999) Sea fish. Scandinavian Fishing Year Book, Hedehusene, Denmark. 340 p.
McMillan, P.J., M.P. Francis, G.D. James, L.J. Paul, P.J Marriott, E. Mackay, B.A. Wood, L.H. Griggs, H. Sui and F. Wei (2011) New Zealand fishes. Volume 1: A field guide to common species caught by bottom and midwater fishing. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 68. 329 p.
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