Author: (Nardo, 1827)
Carcharhnus plumbeus (Nardo, 1827)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo, 1827) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body stout. Snout broadly rounded and short, its length less than mouth width. Teeth serrate, uppers broadly triangular, erect, lowers with narrow erect cusps. First dorsal fin high, triangular, its origin over pectoral bases; pectoral fins broadly triangular, relatively long; interdorsal ridge present; upper caudal lobe stout. Colour: grey to bronze above, white below; undersides of pectoral fins occasionally with dusky tips. Size: to 250 cm TL, common to 220 cm TL.
Habitat: prefers sandy coral bottom to mud bottom, but found over both substrates, from estuaries to edge of continental shelf, near bottom. Food: fishes, molluscs, crustaceans. Reproduction: viviparous, 1 liter every two or three years , 6-4 young born at 50-60 cm TL. Gestation period 11-12 months; parturition occurs in coastal waters. Mature about 180 cm TL, depending on area.
Distribution: off Atlantic coasts of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, possibly Madeira; also, throughout Mediterranean. Elsewhere, in most temperate and tropical waters (except eastern Pacific).
Complementary iconography. Garman, 1913, pl. 3 (fig. 46) | Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948, fig. 68-69 | Tortonese, 1950, fig. 1 and 3-7 | Poll, 1951, fig. 23-24, pl. 1 (fig. 4), pl. 3 (fig. 1-3), pl.11(fig. 2).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948: 372 | Tortonese, 1956: 150 | S. Springer, 1960: 21 | Capapé, 1974a: 334.