Body moderately slender; eye relatively small; snout relatively long and sharply pointed; nostrils on side of snout; teeth smooth-edged, long and slender at front of jaws, blade-like and triangular at rear; a large first dorsal fin, origin behind pectoral border; very small second dorsal and anal fins positioned near base of tail fin, origin of anal under middle of 2nd dorsal base; pectoral fins relatively long and narrow, but less than head length; tail almost symmetrical, semilunar; tail base flattened, with large keel that extends onto tail fin.
Dark blue shading to nearly white on ventral parts; white under snout.
Attains >400 cm; size at birth between 60-70 cm.
Habitat: oceanic, pelagic.
Depth: 0-740 m.
Circumglobal in tropical and temperate seas; California to the Gulf of California to Chile, the oceanic islands
