Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system

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Species: Carcharhinus brachyurus, Bronze whaler Shark, Copper Shark, Narrowtooth Shark

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

body slender
snout wide, blunt point
D1 origin ~over free inner tip of pectoral
Ds small
~ no ridge between Ds
color plain
pectoral: long, straight

Carcharhinus brachyurus (Günther, 1870)

Narrowtooth Shark, Copper Shark, Bronze Whaler Shark

Body slender; snout blunt, broad, rounded, its length 1.1-1.4 times the distance between nostrils; nasal orifices small and well separated; round eye; spiracle absent; upper front teeth narrow and hooked, with finely serrated points; top teeth of males are longer and narrower than those of females; lower front teeth narrow, high, straight, finely serrated; 5 short gill slits, last 2 over pectoral fin base; dorsal fins relatively small, with short rear free tips; first dorsal front edge straight, origin over/slightly before inner free tip of pectoral; second dorsal origin slightly behind anal fin origin; pectoral long, straight; no crest on back between dorsal fins; tail base without keel; tail fin strongly asymmetrical, with well developed lower lobe, undulating ridge along dorsal surface of top lobe, and a notch under tip of that lobe.

Grey-brown to copper above, belly whitish; a pale stripe along flank; most fins with slightly darker edges & dusky to black tips, not strongly marked.

Size: 295 cm.

Habitat: inshore to offshore, continental, from surfline deeper.

Depth: 0-360 m, usually in shallow water.

Circumglobal; California to central Mexico, peru to Colombia


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Salinity
  • Freshwater
  • Brackish
  • Marine
Inshore/Offshore
  • In & Offshore
  • Offshore
  • Inshore
Water Column Position
  • Surface
  • Water column only
  • Near Bottom
  • Near Surface
  • Mid Water
Habitat
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
  • Freshwater
  • Water column
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Estuary
  • Reef and soft bottom
FishBase Habitat
  • Pelagic
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
Egg Type
  • No data
  • No pelagic larva
  • Live birth
Global Endemism
  • East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West)
  • Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans)
  • All species
  • East Pacific + East (not West) Atlantic
  • West + East Pacific (but not Central)
  • "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific)
  • TEP non-endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Island (s)
  • Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
  • California + Peruvian provinces, primarily
  • Continent
  • Eastern Pacific non-endemic
  • All species
  • Temperate Eastern Pacific, primarily
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
  • North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
  • Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
  • South Temperate (Peruvian Province )
  • Antitropical (North and South temperate)
IUCN Red List
  • Near threatened
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Depth Range Min
  • 0
Depth Range Max
  • 360
Length Max
  • 295