FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

1302 Sharks
Galeorhinus galeus (Linnaeus, 1758)
En - Tope shark; Fr - Requin-hâ; Sp - Cazón.
Maximum total length about 1.95 m. An active, strong-swimming, abundant, coastal-pelagic species
of temperate continental and insular waters, near or on the bottom, from inshore waters down to a
depth of 300 m. Ovoviviparous, without a yolk-sac placenta. Feeds on small schooling fish, other
bottom fishes, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Caught with bottom trawls, on longlines, and in
pelagic trawls; utilized fresh, dried salted and processed for oil (Vitamin A) and fishmeal. In the
western South Atlantic, eastern North and South Atlantic, also off southern Australia, New Zealand,
the Laysan Islands, Hawaii, and the eastern North and South Pacific.
dorsal view of head ventral view of head
upper and lower tooth
Gogolia filewoodi Compagno, 1973
En - Sailback houndshark; En - Requin-hâ voile; Sp - Cazón velero.
Maximum total length about 74 cm. A little-known shark of the northern New Guinea continental
shelf, the only specimen of which was taken at a depth of 73 m, probably near the bottom.
Ovoviviparous. Of minor interest to fisheries.
dorsal view of head ventral view of head
Hemitriakis leucoperiptera Herre, 1923
En - Whitefin topeshark; Fr - Requin-hâ aile blanche; Sp - Cazón de aleta blanca.
Maximum total length about 96 cm. A little-known inshore tropical shark, in Philippine coastal waters
down to a depth of 48 m. Viviparous, but it is not known if a yolk-sac placenta is formed; presumably
caught by local fisheries in the Philippines, but details are unknown.
ventral view of head