Carcharhinus brachyurus, Copper shark : fisheries, gamefish

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Carcharhinus brachyurus (Günther, 1870)

Copper shark
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Carcharhinus brachyurus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Carcharhinus brachyurus (Copper shark)
Carcharhinus brachyurus
Picture by Smith, B.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks)
Etymology: Carcharhinus: karcharos (Gr.), sharp or jagged; rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhine (Gr.), rasp, both words alluding to a shark's jagged, rasp-like skin. (See ETYFish);  brachyurus: a- (Gr.), not; carenatus, alternate spelling of carinatus (L.), keeled or carinate, referring to absence of dermal fold (dorsal ridge) between the dorsal fins [treated as a junior synonym of C. brachyurus by some workers]. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Günther.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 360 m (Ref. 58018). Subtropical; 45°N - 52°S, 122°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Mexico, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil to Argentina. Eastern Atlantic: off France southward and around the coast of southern Africa to central Natal, South Africa (Ref. 5578), including the Mediterranean. Possibly two separate populations in southern Africa (Ref. 3209). Western Pacific: Japan to New Zealand. Eastern Pacific: southern California, USA to the Gulf of California in Mexico and Peru.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 230.0, range 245 - 240 cm
Max length : 325 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2334); max. published weight: 304.6 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 3209)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0. A large shark to with a bluntly pointed, broad snout, narrow, bent cusps on the upper teeth, and with no interdorsal ridge (Ref. 5578). Grey to bronzy in color, white below (Ref. 5578); fins mostly plain except for dusky tips on pelvic fins, as well as dusky to black tips and rear edges on pectoral fins (Ref. 9997).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A coastal and offshore shark (Ref. 9997) found along continental margins in most tropical and temperate seas. Occasionally enters large coastal bays and inshore areas (Ref. 6390). Occasionally found near the bottom (Ref. 6808). Migratory in the northern part of its range, moving northward in spring and summer and southward in autumn and winter (Ref. 244). Feeds on pelagic and bottom bony fishes, cephalopods, and small sharks and rays (Ref. 5578). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Undoubtedly utilized for human consumption where it occurs (Ref. 244). Implicated in shark attacks on people (Ref. 9997).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Viviparous, with a yolk-sac placenta. Litter contains 7 to 20 pups (Ref. 6871, 6390). Young born at 59 - 70 cm TL (Ref. 6390). Pupping may occur at any time of the year but there is a peak in births in summer (Ref. 6390). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

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. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 06 April 2020

CITES


CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 11.6 - 23.8, mean 17.4 °C (based on 797 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00468 (0.00230 - 0.00950), b=3.08 (2.91 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 28.9 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=0.04; tm=5-20; tmax=30; Fec=7).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (87 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (57 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 2.54 [0.47, 14.40] mg/100g; Iron = 0.3 [0.1, 0.9] mg/100g; Protein = 23 [20, 25] %; Omega3 = 0.172 [0.060, 0.438] g/100g; Selenium = 19.4 [5.6, 61.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 30.3 [7.9, 119.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.413 [0.195, 0.829] mg/100g (wet weight);