Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis)

Scientific name: Carcharhinus falciformis M?ller & Henle, 1839

Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis)

The Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) is a marine fish of the family Carcharhinidae. In the aquarium it needs water at 23–24°C (73–75°F).

Silky shark care at a glance

Temperature
23–24°C (73–75°F)

Biology

Found abundantly near the edge of continental and insular shelves, but also in the open sea and occasionally inshore. Often found in deepwater reefs and near insular slopes. Littoral and epipelagic, in the open sea or near the bottom at 18-500 m. It is quick-moving and aggressive. Solitary; often associated with schools of tuna. Feeds mainly on fishes, but also squid, paper nautiluses, and pelagic crabs. Viviparous. Regarded as dangerous to humans. Flesh utilized fresh and dried-salted for human consumption; its hide for leather; its fin for shark-fin soup; its liver for oil. 2 to 14 young, 73 to 87 cm, are born per litter.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Carcharhinus falciformis
Family
Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks)
Order
Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks)
Class
Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Rays)
Maximum length
350
Common length
250
Depth range
0–4000 m (0–13123 ft)
Environment
Marine; reef-associated; oceanodromous; depth range 0 - 4000 m, usually 0 - 500 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Circumtropical. Western Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to Uruguay. Eastern Atlantic: Spain, Madeira to northern Angola; St. Paul's Rocks; Cape Verde. Indo-Pacific: scattered records from the Red Sea and Natal, South Africa to China, New Zealand, and the Caroline, Hawaiian, Phoenix and Line islands. Eastern Pacific: southern Baja California, Mexico to northern Chile. Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Near Threatened (NT)
Threat to humans
Traumatogenic
Uses
Fisheries: highly commercial
Resilience
Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (rm=0.054; K=0.05-0.15; tm=6-10; tmax=25; Fec=2-14)

Sources

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

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