United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Common thresher, Common thresher shark, Fox shark
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Occurs in Monterey Bay (Ref. 12091). Has recently become the object of an important pelagic gillnet fishery off southern California. With the rate of decline in the thresher shark population, management measures have been implemented on the U.S. west coast which include: limited entry, seasonal restrictions in gillnet fishery, and a non-fishing zone within 20 nautical miles of shore (Ref. 12451). Also Ref. 6885, 4925, 9987, 26340.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Compagno, L.J.V., 1984
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Renard, Zorro, القرش الثّعلب, ... more

Classification / Names Nomi Comuni | Sinonimi | Catalog of Fishes(Genere, Specie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchi (squali e razze) (sharks and rays) > Lamniformes (Mackerel sharks) > Alopiidae (Thresher sharks)
Etymology: Alopias: From alopex, Greek for fox, referring to the ancient vernacular “fox shark,” from its supposed cunning (ancients believed that when it took a bait, it swallowed the hook until it got to the cord, which it bit off and so escaped). (See ETYFish); vulpinus: Latin for fox-like (as for genus). (See ETYFish).
More on author: Bonnaterre.

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

marino; oceanodromo (Ref. 51243); distribuzione batimetrica 0 - 650 m (Ref. 106604), usually 0 - 200 m (Ref. 55168). Subtropical; 74°N - 58°S, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 54279)

Distribuzione Stati | Aree FAO | Ecosystems | Presenze | Point map | Introduzioni | Faunafri

Cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical seas (Ref. 6871, 58085). Population considered reduced (R) in the US Atlantic waters; lower risk/conservation dependent (LR/CD) in US Pacific waters; data deficient (DD) in the rest of Atlantic and rest of Pacific (Ref. 12451). Highly migratory species.

Length at first maturity / Size / Peso / Age

Maturity: L_m 351.0, range 226 - 400 cm
Max length : 573 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 106604); 549.0 cm TL (female); common length : 450 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 5217); peso massimo pubblicato: 348.0 kg (Ref. 40637); Età massima riportata: 25 anni (Ref. 81241)

Short description Chiavi di identificazione | Morfologia | Morfometria

Spine dorsali (totale) : 0; Spine anali: 0. A large thresher with relatively small eyes, curved, narrow-tipped pectoral fins, a narrow-tipped caudal fin, and a conspicuous white patch over the pectoral fin bases (Ref. 5578). Second dorsal origin well behind the rear tip of the pelvic fin (Ref. 559). Upper lobe of caudal fin very long and strap-like, about as long as or longer than length of rest of shark; lower lobe short but well developed (Ref. 13570). Brown, grey, blue-grey, or blackish on back and underside of snout, lighter on sides and abruptly white below; a white area extends from the abdomen over the pectoral-fin bases; pectoral-, pelvic-, and dorsal fins blackish, white dots sometimes present on pectoral-, pelvic-, and caudal- fin tips (Ref. 13570).

Coastal over continental and insular shelves and epipelagic far from land (Ref. 30573, 43278, 58302). Oceanic although most abundant near land, pelagic at 1-366 m (Ref. 58302). Young often close inshore and in shallow bays (Ref. 5578). Feeds on schooling fishes (including mackerels, bluefishes, clupeids, needlefishes, lancetfishes and lanternfishes), squid, octopi, pelagic crustaceans, and rarely seabirds (Ref. 247). Ovoviviparous, embryos feeding on yolk sac and other ova produced by the mother (Ref. 43278, 50449). Uses its long caudal fin to bunch up and stun prey (Ref. 2850). Spatial and depth segregation by sex in northwestern Indian Ocean populations (Ref. 247). A few attacks on boats are doubtfully attributed to this species, but it is otherwise apparently harmless to humans, though the size of adults of this species command respect (Ref. 247). May cause damage to fishing gear (Ref. 6885). Valued for its meat, liver, hide, and fins; utilized fresh, dried-salted, smoked, and frozen (Ref. 9987).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Riproduzione | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larve

Ovoviviparous, embryos feed solely on the ova produced by the mother after the yolk sac is absorbed (oophagy) (Ref. 50449), 2 to 4 young in a litter (usually 2) (Ref. 247). Size at birth 114-150 cm (Ref. 247). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | Bibliografia | Coordinatore : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaboratori

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 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome, FAO. (Ref. 247)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Vulnerabile, vedi Lista Rossa IUCN (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 06 November 2018

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

Threat to humans

Harmless (Ref. 247)

Human uses

Pesca: commerciale; Pesce da pesca sportiva: si

FAO(pesca: production, species profile; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 11.6 - 28.2, mean 23.3 (based on 8352 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.7500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00851 (0.00363 - 0.01997), b=2.86 (2.66 - 3.06), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.5 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.

Resilienza (Ref. 120179): Basso, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 4.5 - 14 anni (K=0.1; tm=5-7; tmax=19; Fec=2-4).

Prior r = 0.05, 95% CL = 0.03 - 0.07, Based on 1 full stock assessment.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Very high vulnerability (77 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): High vulnerability (62 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788)