Bronze shark
Bronze shark | ||||||||||||
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![]() Bronze shark ( Carcharhinus brachyurus ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Carcharhinus brachyurus | ||||||||||||
( Günther , 1870) |
The bronze or copper shark ( Carcharhinus brachyurus ) belongs to the family of requiem sharks (Carcharhinidae).
anatomy
Bronze sharks are slender sharks up to eight feet tall. On average, however, they have a size of 2.20 to 2.50 m. The color on the back is bronze to olive-gray, the belly whitish. The edges of the shark's fin may be darker in color and have dark tips.
distribution
The distribution ranges in the western Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico via Brazil to Argentina and in the eastern Atlantic from the Canary Islands to South Africa. It can also be found in the Mediterranean. In the western Pacific he lives from Japan via China to Australia and New Zealand, in the eastern Pacific from southern California to Peru.
Reproduction
The bronze sharks are viviparous with 13 to 20 offspring per litter. Sexual maturity is reached at around five years of age, the maximum age is around twelve years.
food
He often hunts in coastal areas. The diet consists mainly of fish - including smaller sharks and rays - and squid-like species.
Relationship with people
The bronze shark is considered to be easily irritable, but accidents in which people are injured by sharks of this species are very rare. There have been no reports of fatal encounters with humans in which the shark could be identified with certainty as a bronze shark. The bronze whaler is suspected of being responsible for a fatal attack on a surfer in Bunkers Bay, Australia on September 4, 2011. There are also suspicions that the fatal attack on Australian swimmer Christine Armstrong (63) on April 3, 2014 near Tathra, New South Wales, was a bronze shark, although there is no solid evidence of this.
Individual evidence
- ^ WA Today, September 5, 2011 , accessed September 14, 2011.
Web links
- Bronzehai on Fishbase.org (English)
- Bronzehai in the hai.ch database
- Carcharhinus brachyurus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Duffy & Gordon, 2003. Retrieved on 11 May, 2006.