Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus)

Scientific name: Carcharhinus obscurus Lesueur, 1818

Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus)

The Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) is a brackish-water fish of the family Carcharhinidae.

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. Common component of the catch of the shark longline fishery. Feeds on bottom and pelagic bony fish, sharks, skates, rays, cephalopods, gastropods, crustaceans, sometimes mammalian carrion and inorganic objects. Viviparous. 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.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Carcharhinus obscurus
Family
Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks)
Order
Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks)
Class
Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Rays)
Maximum length
420
Common length
250
Depth range
0–400 m (0–1312 ft)
Environment
Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous; depth range 0 - 400 m, usually 200 - 400 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Western Atlantic: southern Massachusetts to Florida (USA), Georges Bank, Bahamas, Cuba, northern Gulf of Mexico, Nicaragua, southern Brazil and Uruguay. 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, 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, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd)
Threat to humans
Traumatogenic
Uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
Resilience
Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (rm=0.02; also Musick et al. 2000)

Sources

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

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