The oceanic whitetip shark, or lesser white shark, was described in 1831 by naturalist René-Primevère Lesson. It is found worldwide between 45°N and 43°S latitude. The largest specimen ever caught measured 4m, an exceptionally large specimen considering a few specimens are known to exceed a length of 3m.
About Oceanic whitetip shark in brief
The oceanic whitetip shark, or lesser white shark, was described in 1831 by naturalist René-Primevère Lesson. It was next described by Cuban Felipe Poey in 1861 as Squalus longimanus. The shark spends most of its time in the upper layer of the ocean—to a depth of 150 m —and prefers off-shore, deep-ocean areas. It is found worldwide between 45°N and 43°S latitude. Recent studies show steeply declining populations because its large fins are highly valued as the chief ingredient of shark fin soup. The largest specimen ever caught measured 4m, an exceptionally large specimen considering a few specimens are known to exceed a length of 3m. The female is typically larger than the male by 10 by 10 cm. Males attain sexual maturity at 1 to 1.9m. Males and females are about 1 to 2m. In the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the mean weight of the mean whiticetip sharks was 86 kg. In the 1990s the sharks were 4 to 4.5m in length. It has a ‘typical’, although somewhat flattened requiem shark body, often with a humpbacked aspect, with some mottling on the fins, with a mildly grey-bronze dorsally and ventrally.
It prefers waters between 20 and 28 °C and tends to withdraw from areas when temperatures fall outside of these limits. Unlike many animals, it does not have a diurnal cycle, and is active both day and night. Its swimming style is slow, with widely spread pectoral fins. Despite its habitual isolation from members of its own species, pilot fish, dolphinfish, and remora may accompany it. In 1988, Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch reported seeing an individual accompanied by a shortfin pilot whale. In September 2004, a 2.3 m vagrant oceanic white-tipped whaler was seen in the brackish waters of Gullmarsfjorden in Sweden; it died shortly after. This is the only North European record and far north of its usual range limit. It is typically solitary, though gatherings have been observed where food is plentiful. The shark’s nose is rounded and its eyes are circular, with nictitating membranes. C. longimanUS’ most distinguishing characteristics are its long, wing-like pectorals and dorsal fins. The fins are significantly larger than most other shark species, and are conspicuously rounded.
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This page is based on the article Oceanic whitetip shark published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
