Night shark
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| Night shark | ||||||||||||||||
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| Carcharhinus signatus (Poey, 1868) |
The night shark, Carcharhinus signatus, is a requiem shark of the family Carcharhinidae, found in subtropical western Atlantic Ocean waters between latitudes 43° N and 43° S, from the surface to 600 m.
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[edit] Species description
The night shark is a slim shark with a very long, pointed snout, large eyes, and small jaws with oblique-cusped serrated upper teeth. The dorsal fins are low with elongated rear tips, and an interdorsal ridge is present. Its length is up to about 2.8 m.
Coloration is grey-brown above, white below, with no conspicuous fin markings .
[edit] Ecology
Little is known about the reproductive biology of this species: breeding is believed to occur in the summer, and they are viviparous (placental live birth). Litter size ranges from 12 to 18 pups of 10 to 60 cm (4 to 24 in) TL.
Night sharks forage primarily on squids, small fishes, and shrimp. It is a coastal and semi-oceanic species found on or along outer continental and insular shelves. It forms schools and is nocturnal. It is not known to be dangerous to people.
[edit] Conservation
The night shark is caught mainly on longlines, usually at night as bycatch from pelagic longline fisheries targeting tunas. Direct targeting of the shark for its fins and meat value has occurred recently off the coast of Brazil.
The night shark is a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern. Species of Concern are those species about which the U.S. Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).
[edit] Conservation designations:
IUCN[1]: Vulnerable
American Fisheries Society: Vulnerable
[edit] Status reviews
The status review by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center of NMFS was finalized in 2008 and is in press.
[edit] References
- Carlson, J.K. and E. Cortes. 2008. The Status of the United States Population of Night Shark, Carcharhinus signatus. In press: Marine Fisheries Review.
- NMFS. Species of Concern Fact Sheet [2]. 2008
- "Carcharhinus signatus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
