Carcharhinus plumbeus

Dorsal surfaces pale bronze to greyish brown; a faint pale stripe on each side. Dorsal and upper caudal fin sometimes with dusky edges; pectoral, pelvic, caudal and anal fins of juveniles often with pale tips and posterior margins, less evident in adults. Ventral surfaces pale.

Maximum size up to 280 cm TL; birth size 52–75 cm TL.

Circumglobal, but patchy, in most tropical and warm temperate waters.

Occurs over continental and insular shelves, and adjacent deep water, from the intertidal to depths of at least 280 m.

Feeds primarily on small bony fish, but also crustacean and cephalopods. Migratory in some areas, moving towards warmer waters during colder months; juveniles segregated from adults, and sexes tend to also segregate from each other. Length at maturity is 145–185 cm TL and 130–180 for females and males respectively. Age at maturity is 16.2 years and 13.8 years for females and males respectively. Reproductive mode is viviparous with yolk-sac placenta. Females give birth to 1–14 (usually 5–12) pups, and in Australia, give birth between February and April, after a gestation of about 12 months; females breed every second year. Maximum age reported as at least 25 years for Western Australian populations.

Occasionally caught by shark longline and tuna gillnet fisheries. Utilised for its fins (high value in adults), meat, skin and cartilage.

FishBase
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species^TM