FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

Carcharhinidae 1331
Carcharhinus brachyurus (Günther, 1870)
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: Carcharhinus remotus (Dumeril, 1865) / None.
FAO names: En - Copper shark; Fr - Requin cuivre; Sp - Tiburón cobrizo.
Diagnostic characters: A large shark. Body slender to
moderately stout. Snout rounded or broadly angular, its
length about equal to, or somewhat smaller than width
of mouth, but greater than internasal space; labial
furrows short; anterior nasal flaps very short to
rudimentary; upper teeth with narrow, mostly oblique,
somewhat flexed cusps, well delimited from the
tooth bases and finely serrated; lower teeth with
moderately high, narrow, erect to semioblique, weakly
serrated, cusps; gill slits relatively short. First dorsal
fin moderately high, with a nearly straight anterior margin
and a narrowly rounded or pointed apex, its origin over
inner margins of pectoral fins; second dorsal fin moderately high, with a slightly concave posterior margin
and an inner margin much shorter than half the height of fin; its origin over that of anal fin; pectoral fins not
strongly falcate, apically pointed. Usually no interdorsal ridge (occasionally a weak ridge present). Colour:
dark brownish grey above, white below; fins mostly plain, except for dusky tips on pelvic fins, as well as
dusky to black tips and rear edges on pectoral fins.
Size: Maximum total length about 2.9 m; matures at between 2 to 2.5 m, with females somewhat larger
than males; size at birth about 60 to 70 cm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A coastal and offshore shark, preferring temperate to tropical waters.
Viviparous, number of fetuses 13 to 20. Feeds on bottom-dwelling bony fishes, including gurnards,
flatfishes, hakes, puffers, sea catfishes, jacks, and mullets; also on rays, small sharks, squids, and
cuttlefishes. Dangerous or potentially dangerous to man, known to have been implicated in shark attacks
on people in other areas. Little is recorded on the use of this species, but it is undoubtedly caught and used
for human consumption. It is
taken in bottom trawls, by line
gear, and by sports anglers.
Distribution: Nearly circumglobal
in temperate, subtropical
and some tropical
seas (California, South
America, West and South
Africa, the Mediterranean,
Japan, China, New Zealand,
Australia).
?
ventral view
of head
upper and lower
lateral teeth