Author: (Peron and Lesueur, 1822)
Galeocerdo cuvieri (Peron and Lesueur, 1822)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Galeocerdo cuvier (Péron and Lesueur, 1822) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: trunk stout in pectoral region, tapering to slender caudal peduncle. Snout short and bluntly rounded; upper labial furrow as long as snout length; nasal flap apparent. Head flattened dorsally and broad. Teeth large, serrate, oblique, similar in both jaws, inner margin convex, outer margin deeply notched, serrations towards base on outer margin large. Eyes slightly oval. Spiracle present behind and above eye. Gill-slits all approximately of equal length. Pectoral fins relatively broad; first dorsal fin low, apex rounded; inter-dorsal ridge present, becoming a furrow just anterior to second dorsal fin; anal fin apex strongly curved posteriorly; strong lateral keels on caudal peduncle; upper caudal lobe long, apex tenuate. Colour: greenish-grey to brown with well-defined dark spots in juveniles, the spots blending, becoming vertical bars and fading with size, still visible in specimens greater than 3 m TL. Size: reported to 7 m TL, common to 4 m TL.
Habitat: coastal to epipelagic waters, usually found near bottom, but seen sunning at surface; a slow-cruising species, powerful swimmer. Food: omnivorous, diet includes fishes, molluscs, crustaceans, sea-birds, seaturtles, sea-mammals and garbage. Reproduction: ovoviviparous, large litters, up to 80 young, usually near 40, born at 60-80 cm TL. Gestation period may be 16 months.
Distribution: rare, one record from Iceland. also rerported off Morocco; apparently absent from Mediterranean. Elsewhere, cosmopolitan in tropical seas.
Complementary iconography. Müller and Henle, 1841, pl. 23-24 | D'Aubrey, 1964a, pl. 6 | Kato et al., 1967, fig. 55.
Eggs, larvae, and young stages: Sarangdhar, 1943: 105 | Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948: 269 | Setna and Sarangdhar, 1949: 115 | Kauffman, 1950: 7.