General Description

Body spindle-shaped (fusiform) and stout; upper lobe of caudal fin (tail fin) as long or longer than rest of body; head broad; snout broad; eyes relatively small and positioned on midside of head; pectoral fins (the fins on the side of the body) with narrowly rounded tips. Metallic blue-grey to brownish above, underside white, with white area extending above pectoral-fin bases. To 5.7 m in Australia, 7.5 m elsewhere.

Biology

Thresher Sharks have a specialised circulatory system allowing them to maintain body temperatures above that of the surrounding water. This species uses its enormous tail to herd schooling fishes such as mackerel and tailor and sometimes cephalopods towards the surface, where they are stunned by thrashing the tail. Females give birth to live young in shallow coastal waters. The young move offshore as they mature. Thresher sharks are sometimes seen leaping out of the water.

Distribution

Circumglobal in tropical waters. Southern Australian waters from Brisbane (Queensland) to the North West shield (Western Australia).

Habitat

Coastal regions to the open ocean, in surface depths to 650 m.

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