Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus)

Scientific name: Alopias superciliosus Lowe, 1841

Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus)

The Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus) is a marine fish of the family Alopiidae.

Biology

Occurs in coastal waters over continental shelves, sometimes close inshore in shallow waters, and on the high seas far from land. Oceanic, pelagic and near bottom at 1->500 m. Depth range to at least 500 m. Feeds on pelagic fishes (lancetfishes, herring, mackerel and small billfishes) and bottom fishes (hake) and squids. Ovoviviparous, embryos feeding on yolk sac and other ova produced by the mother. Stuns its prey with its long caudal fin. Utilized for human consumption, liver oil for vitamins, skin for leather, and fins for shark-fin soup. Marketed fresh and may be broiled, baked or grilled, but unsuitable for steaming, boiling or frying; meat may be salted and dried. Also.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Alopias superciliosus
Family
Alopiidae (Thresher sharks)
Order
Lamniformes (Mackerel sharks)
Class
Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Rays)
Maximum length
488
Common length
350
Depth range
0–500 m (0–1640 ft)
Environment
Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous; depth range 0 - 500 m, usually 0 - 100 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Circumtropical. Western Atlantic: New York, USA southward to Bahamas and Cuba; Panama to Uruguay. Eastern Atlantic: Portugal to Angola, including the Mediterranean. Indo-Pacific: Arabian Sea, Madagascar, South Africa, southern Japan, Taiwan, northern Viet Nam, New Caledonia, northwestern coast of Australia, New Zealand and north and south of the Hawaiian Islands Eastern Pacific: southern California (USA), Costa Rica and Panama, Galapagos Islands Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
Resilience
Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec=2-4)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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