Carcharhinus altimus

Dorsal surfaces bronze to grey; greyish after death. Fin tips often dusky. Ventral surfaces almost white.

Maximum size up to 285 cm TL; birth size 60–75 cm TL.

Circumglobal in most tropical and warm temperate seas, but patchily recorded.

View FAO distribution map

A mainly bottom-dwelling species, but rarely observed in shallow waters. Found at depths from 80 to least 430 meters; juveniles as shallow as 25 meters.

Feeds on a variety of demersal bony fish, sharks, rays and cephalopods. Differs in habitat from other members of this genus in preferring deepwater areas, although undergoing vertical migrations to near the surface at night. Length at maturity is 225 cm TL and 190–216 cm TL for females and males respectively.. Reproductive mode is viviparous with yolk sac-placenta, and give birth to a litter of 3–15 pups. Populations in Papua New Guinea probably give birth in June or July, based on 2 pregnant females with embryos of ~60 cm TL being caught in June.

Caught occasionally by shark longliners and as bycatch of gillnet fisheries. Utilised for its fins (high value in adults), meat, skin and cartilage.

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The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species^TM