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Carcharhinus obscurus (Lesueur, 1818)

Dusky shark
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Carcharhinus obscurus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Carcharhinus obscurus (Dusky shark)
Carcharhinus obscurus
Picture by Randall, J.E.

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);  obscurus: Latin for dark, probably referring to its darkish blue-gray body color. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Lesueur.

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

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 400 m (Ref. 244), usually 200 - 400 m. Subtropical; 45°N - 46°S, 120°W - 156°E (Ref. 55186)

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

Western Atlantic: southern Massachusetts to Florida (USA), Georges Bank, Bahamas, Cuba, northern Gulf of Mexico, Nicaragua, southern Brazil and Uruguay (Ref. 58839). Eastern Atlantic: Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Senegal, Sierra Leone. Some records from the Mediterranean and Madeira may be based on Carcharhinus galapagensis. Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea (Ref. 5485), Mozambique and South Africa to Japan, China, Viet Nam and Australia. Eastern Pacific: southern California, USA to Gulf of California and the Revillagigedo Island. Highly migratory species.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 249.5, range 220 - 300 cm
Max length : 420 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5578); common length : 250 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999); max. published weight: 346.5 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 40 years (Ref. 31395)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A large shark with a broadly rounded snout, triangular saw-edged upper teeth, curved moderate-sized pectoral fins, and an interdorsal ridge (Ref. 5578). 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 (Ref. 9997).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in coastal and offshore waters but not oceanic (Ref. 5578). Adults are commonly found at depths of 200-400 m, young in shallower waters (Ref. 5485). A seasonal migratory species over parts of its range (Ref. 6871). Common component of the catch of the shark longline fishery (Ref.58048). Feeds on bottom and pelagic bony fish, sharks, skates, rays, cephalopods, gastropods, crustaceans, sometimes mammalian carrion and inorganic objects (Ref. 5578). Viviparous (Ref. 50449); with litter size number from 3-14 (Ref. 27549). Large adults are potentially dangerous (Ref. 4716, 6871). Utilized fresh, dried-salted, frozen and smoked for human consumption; hides for leather; fins for sharks-fin soup; and liver oil extracted for vitamins (Ref. 244).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Viviparous, with a yolk-sac placenta, litter size 3-14 pups (Ref. 244); 70-100 cm at birth (Ref. 6871). Gestation period of ~ 16 months (Ref.58048). 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)

  Endangered (EN) (A2bd); Date assessed: 06 November 2018

CITES


Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

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

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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References
References

Tools

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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, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | 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): 8.7 - 18.6, mean 12.6 °C (based on 736 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00759 (0.00428 - 0.01346), b=3.08 (2.93 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (rm=0.02; also Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717)).
Prior r = 0.09, 95% CL = 0.06 - 0.13, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (88 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (62 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 2.25 [0.42, 12.59] mg/100g; Iron = 0.295 [0.071, 0.898] mg/100g; Protein = 23 [20, 25] %; Omega3 = 0.163 [0.056, 0.425] g/100g; Selenium = 21.7 [6.3, 69.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 24.1 [6.3, 93.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.398 [0.189, 0.797] mg/100g (wet weight);