Distribution:

Western Atlantic: southern Massachusetts to Florida (USA), Georges Bank, Bahamas, Cuba, northern Gulf of Mexico, Nicaragua, and southern Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Senegal, Sierra Leone. Some records from the Mediterranean and Madeira may be based on C. galapagensis. Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea, Mozambique and South Africa to Japan, China, Viet Nam and Australia. Eastern Pacific: southern California, USA to Gulf of California and the Revillagigedo Is. Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Diagnosis:

Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0. A large shark with a broadly rounded snout, triangular saw-edged upper teeth, curved moderate-sized pectoral fins, and an interdorsal ridge. Blue-grey, lead-grey above, white below; tips of pectoral and pelvic fins, as well as lower lobe of caudal fin and dorsal fins often dusky in young, plain in adults.

Biology:

Found in coastal and offshore waters but not oceanic. Adults are commonly found at depths of 200-400 m, young in shallower waters. A seasonal migratory species over parts of its range. Feeds on bottom and pelagic bony fish, sharks, skates, rays, cephalopods, gastropods, crustaceans, sometimes mammalian carrion and inorganic objects. Large adults are potentially dangerous. Utilized fresh, dried-salted, frozen and smoked for human consumption; hides for leather; fins for sharks-fin soup; and liver oil extracted for vitamins.

Max. size: 420.0 cm

Max.weight: 347 Kg

Environment: pelagic; depth range 0 - 400 m

Climate: subtropical; 43°N - 43°S

Canary Islands country information: Name: Jaqueta, Jaquetón