Author: (Muller & Henle, 1841)

Carcharhinus brevipinna (Muller & Henle, 1841)

Diagnosis: snout long and conical; pre-narial length 1.1-1.4 times greater than distance from front of nostrils to front of mouth. Teeth small and spike-like, uppers serrate, lowers serrate or non-serrate; tooth counts

16 or 17-2 or 3-16 or 17
————————————————;
15 or 16-2 or 3-15 or 16

mandible with smooth trailing edge
(with a notch in C. Iimbatus). First dorsal fin origin usually behind free tip of pectoral fin, the dorsal fin relatively small, height less than 10% TL, dorsal interspace greater than 2.2 times fin height; inter-dorsal ridge absent. Length of lower caudal lobe less than half length of upper. Colour: grey to copper-bronze above, white below, sides with narrowing band of grey from over pectorals to origin of pelvic, with corresponding band of white above; all fins tipped black, except in small juveniles. Pups born without fin pigmentation, tips developing at lengths of 80-130 cm TL, or within three months after birth. Size: to 278 cm TL, common to 220 cm TL.

Habitat: in coastal to open ocean waters, possibly limited by 18° surface isotherm; fast-swimming, epipelagic, known for leaping from the water in spinning motion, rotating 1 1/2 times and falling back into the water on their backs. Food: primarily fish. Reproduction: viviparous, I litter every two years, 6-15 pups, 60-75 cm TL at birth. Parturition occurs in coastal waters.

Distribution: northward to Spain and throughout the Mediterranean (reported common off Tunisia, Egypt and Israel). Elsewhere, southward to Angola, and in all other temperate and tropical waters except the eastern Pacific.

Complementary iconography. Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948b, fig. 66-67 | Poll, 1951, fig. 16-18 | Smith, 1951, fig. 1-2 | D'Aubrey, 1964a, pl. 25.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948: 367 | S. Springer, 1963: 110.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Carcharhinidae
Genus Carcharhinus
Species Carcharhinus brevipinna

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Carcharhinus brevipinna (Müller & Henle, 1839)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Carcharhinus brevipinna (Muller & Henle, 1841)

Synonyms:

Carcharias (Aprion) brevipinna Müller & Henle, 1841, Syst. pl. 9 (Java). Type: unknown.
Isogomphodon maculipinnis Poey, 1865, Repert. fisico-nat. (fig. 2-3) (Cuba). Type: unknown.

Subspecies:

Carcharhinus brevipinna brevipinna (Müller & Henle, 1841) 13.1.2.1.
Aprionodon caparti Poll, 1951, Rés. Sci. Expéd. océanogr. belg. Eaux cot. afr. Atlant. Sud, 4 (1): 41, fig. 16-18 (13°16' E., 8° 30' S., Pointa do Dande, Angola). Type: unknown.
Carcharhinus limbatus: Tortonese, 1938: 158.
Carcharhinus maculipinnis: Tortonese, 1950: 15; 1951b: 3, 7; 1956: 147;1963: 158.
Carcharhinus johnsoni Smith, 1951, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (ser. 12)4: 88, fig. 1-2 (South Africa). Type: unknown.
Aprionodon brevirostris: Ben-Tuvia, 1963: 115 (error for Aprionodon brevipinna; not Hypoprion brevirostris Poey, 1865).
Aprionodon brevipinna: Tortonese, 1963: 158.
Carcharhinus brevipinna: Ben-Tuvia, 1966: 259.
Carcharhinus brevipinna brevipinna: Krefft, 1968: 48.

Common names:

Spinner shark [En]
Requin tisserand [Fr]
Tiburon aleta negra [Es]

Aubrey, J. D. d'. 1964a. Preliminary guide to the sharks found off the east coast of South Africa. Invest. Rep. oceanogr. res. Inst., Durban, (8) :1-95, 22 fig., 28 pl.

Ben-Tuvia, A.1963. Systematics and ecology of Indo-Pacific fishes recently established in the eastern Mediterranean. Proc. XVI Intern. Congr. Zool., Washington, D.C., 1 : 1 15.

Ben-Tuvia, A.1966. Red Sea fishes recently found in the Mediterranean. Copeia, (2): 254-275 2 fig.

Bigelow, H. B.; Schroeder, W. C. 1948b. Sharks. In: Fishes of the western north Atlantic. Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res., New Haven, 1(1): 59-576, fig. 6-106.

Krefft, G.1968b. Knorpelfische (Chondrichthyes) aus dem tropischen Ostatlantik. Atlantide Rep., (10): 33-76, pl. III-VI.

Müller, J.; Henle, J.1841. Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Berlin, xxii+204 p., 60 pl.

Poey, F.1865-67. Repertorio fisico-natural de la isla de Cuba. 2 vol., Habana, 1865-67, 1: 1 412, 2: 1 468.

Poll, M.1951. Poissons. I. Généralités. II. Sélaciens et Chiméres. Rés. Sci. Expéd. océanogr. belg. Eaux côt. afr. Atlant. Sud (1948-49J, 4 (1) :1-154, 66 fig., 13 pl.

Smith, J. L. B. 1951. A New Galeorhinid Shark from South Africa, with Notes on other Species. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (12) 4: 86-93, fig. 2.

Springer, S. 1963. Field Observations on Large Sharks of the Florida-Caribbean Region. In: P. W. Gilbert, ed., Sharks and Survival, D. C. Heath and Co., Boston, chapter 3: 96-113, fig. 2.

Tortonese, E. 1938d. Uno Squalo nuovo per il Mediterraneo. Natura, 29 :157-160, fig. 1.

Tortonese, E. 1950b. A note on the hammerhead shark, Sphyrna tudes Val ., after a study of the types. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (12) 3 :1030-1033.

Tortonese, E. 1951b. Studi sui Plagiostomi. V. Ulteriori considerazioni sulle specie Mediterranee dei generi Sphyrna e Carcharhinus. Doriana, 1(20): 8 p., fig. 3.

Tortonese, E. 1956b. Leptocardia, Ciclostomata, Selachii. Fauna Ital., 2: 334 p., 163 fig.

Tortonese, E. 1963c. Elenco riveduto dei Leptocardi, Ciclostomi, Pesci cartilagine e ossei del mare mediterraneo. Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Giacomo Doria, 74 :156-185.

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