Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) >
Lamniformes (Mackerel sharks) >
Lamnidae (Mackerel sharks or white shark)
Etymology: Lamna: Greek, lamna, -es = a shark (Ref. 45335); nasus: Latin: nasus, nose (Ref.89261).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 715 m (Ref. 26346). Temperate; 2°C - 18°C (Ref. 6871); 76°N - 59°S, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 247)
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 175.0, range 170 - 180 cm
Max length : 350 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4645); common length : 244 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5951); max. published weight: 230.0 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 247)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 0;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 0;
Anal
spines: 0;
Anal
soft rays: 0. A stout, spindle-shaped shark with large black eyes, a sharp, conical snout, long gill slits, and small, smooth-edged, narrow teeth with side cusps (Ref. 5578, 88171). Strong keels on the caudal peduncle, short secondary keels on the caudal base, and a crescentic caudal fin; the insertion of the small second dorsal fin is above the insertion of the anal fin (Ref. 88171). Dark grey dorsally, white ventrally, without blotches (Ref. 6581, 43278); rear tip of 1st dorsal abruptly white (Ref. 5578).
Circumglobal in temperate waters of the southern hemisphere. Western Atlantic: Greenland and Newfoundland, Canada to Bermuda; possibly southern Brazil to Argentina. Eastern Atlantic: Iceland and western Barents Sea to Morocco, including the Mediterranean. Southwest Pacific: Australia and New Zealand. Southeast Pacific: Chile. Indian Ocean: South Africa to Australia. In subantarctic waters off South Georgia, Marion, Prince-Edward and the Kerguelen Islands. Appendix III (Mediterranean) of the Bern Convention (2002). Appendix II of the Bonn Convention (2009).
Most abundant on continental offshore fishing banks but also found far from land in ocean basins and occasionally close inshore (Ref. 247). Pelagic, epipelagic or littoral shark. Highly migratory, moves generally along the continental shelves. Specimens tagged off southern England were recaptured in northern Norway (having travelled 2,370 km), Denmark and Spain (Ref. 88752, 88753). The northwest Atlantic stock migrates from Newfoundland, Canada in the winter to Massachusetts in the summer (Ref. 43278, 88754). Trans-Atlantic migrations have also been recorded. One of the most cold-tolerant sharks; in the northwest Atlantic mostly found from 5-10°C (Ref. 88755). Known to temporarily tolerate salinities as low as 10 to follow its prey (Ref. 88740). Found singly and in schools and feeding aggregations (Ref. 247). Feeds on small and medium-sized pelagic schooling species, other sharks, squid (Ref. 5578) and demersal fishes (cod, white hake, red hake, haddock and cusk (Ref. 5951, 43278)). Ovoviviparous species (Ref. 43278, 50449). Females grow larger than males (Ref. 88756). Catch records and studies in the northeast Atlantic show segregation by sex and size (Ref. 56108, 88756, 88757). Parasites include Phyllobothrium dagnallium (found in stomach, intestine and spiral valve) and Dinobothrium sp. (Ref. 5951). Regarded as potentially dangerous to people because of its size and activity but has never or very seldom been indicted in an attack on people or boats (Ref. 247). Excellent sportfish (Ref. 84357). The flesh of the porbeagle is of good quality and texture and is said to taste like swordfish (Ref. 84357). Utilized fresh, dried or salted and frozen for human consumption; for oil and fishmeal; fins for shark-fin soup (Ref. 247). May be pan-fried and broiled (Ref. 9988).
Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome: FAO.
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
Threat to humans
Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
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Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.7813 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01051 (-0.10789 - 0.12890), b=3.02542 (2.94578 - 3.10507), based on LWR estimates for species & family-BS (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 4.5 ±0.4 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=0.12; tm=5; tmax=30; Fec=1-5).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (86 of 100) .
