Species: Carcharhinus obscurus, Dusky Shark
large eyes
pelvic origin near D1
Carcharhinus obscurus (Lesueur, 1818)
Dusky Shark
Body moderately slender; snout moderately short (</= mouth width), broad, rounded; eyes round, large; nasal flaps rudimentary; upper front teeth broadly triangular, low, straight at front to a little oblique at sides, serrated, not notched; lower front teeth with low, narrow, finely serrated points; first dorsal fin moderately large, front edge broadly arched, tip pointed to narrowly rounded, origin over/slightly before pectoral free rear tip; origin of second dorsal above anal fin origin, with long base and long free rear tip, fin low, usually < 2.3% (1.5-2.3%) TL; pectoral long, strongly curved rear border, pointed tip; a marked crest between dorsal fins; pelvic fin with origin only slightly behind free rear tip of 1st dorsal fin; 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, shading to white ventrally, with a faint, near-horizontal, grey band invading the white of upper abdomen; tips of fins dusky.
Size: reaches 365 cm, possibly 400 cm; size at birth 69-100 cm.
Habitat: Inshore to offshore coastal- pelagic, primarily on continental shelves, not in low salinity habitats.
Depth: 0-573 m.
Circumglobal in tropical and warm temperate seas; from California to central Mexico.
Note: Very similar in appearance and easily confused with C. galapagensis; in C obscurus the origin of the 1st dorsal fin is over/slightly behind the free rear tip of the pectoral fin (vs over the inner margin & before that tip in C galapagensis); and the pelvic origin is only slightly behind the free rear tip of the 1st dorsal fin (vs well behind in C galapagensis).
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Brackish
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Mid Water
- Near Bottom
- Near Surface
- Water column only
- Surface
- Habitat
-
- Water column
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef and soft bottom
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Pelagic
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Sharks/rays
- Bony fishes
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Data
- Sea-stars/cucumbers/urchins
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Egg Type
-
- Live birth
- No data
- No pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
-
- East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West)
- West + East Pacific (but not Central)
- Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America)
- East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West)
- All species
- TEP non-endemic
- "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific)
- Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans)
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continent
- All species
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- Eastern Pacific non-endemic
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Vulnerable
- CITES
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- Listed
- Appendix II
- Length Max
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- 365
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 573