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Carcharhinus sorrah

(West Australian Whaler Shark)

Overview

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Family : Requiem sharks ; Found on the continental and insular shelves, primarily near reefs[1]. Sometimes in offshore waters (Ref. 30573). Live near the seabed during the day and near the surface at night[2]. Shark movements often short (50 km ) but may be more than 1,000 km[2]. Prefers teleost fishes but also feeds on cephalopods and crustaceans[3]. Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Regularly caught by local artisanal and small-scale commercial fisheries where it occurs[1]. Utilized as a food fish ; fins used in the oriental shark fin trade, liver for vitamin oil , and offal for fishmeal [4].

Near Threatened

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Afrikaans:

Kolsterhaai

Common Names in Arabic:

Jarjur

Common Names in Bali:

Merak Bulu, Mungsing

Common Names in Cebuano:

Iho

Common Names in Danish:

Plethalet haj

Common Names in Dutch:

Vlekstaarthaai

Common Names in English:

Black-tip shark, Blacktip shark, Grey shark, School shark, Sorrah, Sorrah shark, spot-tail shark, Spot-tail whaler, Spottail shark, West Australian Whaler Shark

Common Names in French:

Requin , Requin à queue tachetée, Requin blanc, Requin Squale, Requin Tachet, Requin tacheté

Common Names in Japanese:

Hourai zame, Houraizame

Common Names in Jawa:

Cucut Lanjaman, Lanyam

Common Names in Kannada:

Shirat, ಷೀರಟ್, ಷೀರಟ್ 

Common Names in Korean:

검은꼬리상어

Common Names in Malay:

Yu kepak hitam

Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:

沙拉白眼鮫, 沙拉真鯊, 沙条, 沙條, 色拉白眼鲛, 色拉真鲨

Common Names in Marathi:

Balda, Pisori, पिसोरि, बाळदा

Common Names in Persian:

Kooseh-e-baleh-syah

Common Names in Portuguese:

Marracho rabo manchado

Common Names in Sindhi:

Kanatyan

Common Names in Spanish:

Tibur, Tiburón rabo manchado

Common Names in Tagalog:

Pating

Common Names in Tamil:

Katta-sorrah, கட்டா சுரா  , கட்டைச் சுரா

Common Names in Telugu:

Sorrah, కావల్ సొర్రా, నెల్ల వెకల్ సొర్రా  , బోక  సొర్రా , ముఖాన్ సొర్రా , రన్ సొర్రా    , రమన్ సొర్రా   

Common Names in Thai:

Chalarm Jud-dum

Common Names in Vietnamese:

Cá M?p mi?ng r?ng, Cá Mập miệng rộng

Description

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Habitat

May be found at depths of 0 to 140 meters.

Ecology: A common inshore shark , on continental and insular shelves found from close inshore to a depth of at least 140 m (Compagno and Niem 1998e). Common over mud and sand bottom in depths between 20?50 m but also occurs near coral reefs. Occurs throughout the water column but mainly in midwater or near the surface (Last and Stevens 1994). Young prefer very shallow, inshore waters . Attains at least 160 cm total length (TL ) and is viviparous with a yolk-sac placenta (White et al. 2006, Compagno in prep). In Australia, size at maturity 90 cm TL (males) and 95cm TL (females). Age at maturity is 2?3 years. Gestation period of 10 months and a reproductive periodicity of one year. Litter size ranges from 1?8 pups/litter (average three), with size at birth 50 cm TL. Growth rate of juveniles are 20 cm/year for the first year, declining to 5 cm/year when the sharks are about five years old (Stevens and Wiley 1986, Davenport and Stevens 1988). In Indonesia, size at maturity 112 cm TL (males), litter size 3?8 (average five), size at birth 52?55 cm TL in October (White 2007). In Bombay, birth occurs in spring (March-May) (Compagno in prep). Diet consists of bony fishes (e.g. , Bonito and sea bass) and cephalopods (White et al. 2006).[5].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Carcharhinus bleekeri (Duméril • Carcharhinus sorrah • Carcharhinus spallanzani< /i> (Péron & Lesueur • Carcharias bleekeri Duméril • Carcharias sorrah • Carcharias sorrah Müller & Henle • Carcharias sorrah Müller and Henle, 1839 • Carcharias spallanzani< /i> (Péron & Lesueur • Carcharias taeniatus Hemprich & Ehrenberg • Eulamia spallanzani< /i> (Péron & Lesueur • Galeolamna isobel Whitley • Squalus spallanzani Péron & Lesueur

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

First described: Müller, J. and F.g.j. Henle Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Berlin, Veit, (2):29-102., 1839.

Comment: ex Valenciennes[6].

Last scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 28-Oct-2000

A separate species may exist in Southeast Asia, but this needs a much more detailed investigation.[5].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Carcharhinus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 36 species and subspecies in this genus:

C. acronotus (Blacknose Shark) · C. ahenea (Shortnose Blacktail Shark) · C. albimarginatus (Silvertip Shark) · C. altimus (Knopp´s Shark) · C. amblyrhynchoides (Graceful Shark) · C. amblyrhynchos (Shortnose Blacktail Shark) · C. amboinensis (Ambon Sharpnose Puffer) · C. azureus (Large Blacktip Shark) · C. borneensis (Borneo Mullet) · C. brachyurus (Black-Tipped Whaler) · C. brevipinna (Blacktipped Shark) · C. cautus (Sharks Bay Whaler Shark) · C. dussumieri (Whitecheek Shark) · C. falciformis (Sickle-Shaped Shark) · C. fitzroyensis (Creek Whaler Shark) · C. galapagensis (Galapagos Shark) · C. hemiodon (Pondicherry Shark) · C. isodon (Fintooth Shark) · C. leiodon (Smoothtooth Blacktip Shark) · C. leucas (Bull Shark) · C. limbatus (Blacktip Shark) · C. longimanus (Brown Milbert's Sand Bar Shark) · C. macloti (Hardnose Shark) · C. melanopterus (Black Fin Reef Shark) · C. obscurus (Dusky Shark) · C. perezi (Caribbean Reef Shark) · C. perezii (Caribbean Reef Shark) · C. plumbeus (Northern Whaler Shark) · C. porosus (Tiburon Peninsula Limia) · C. sealei (Black-Spot Shark) · C. signatus (Night Shark) · C. sorrah (West Australian Whaler Shark) · C. springeri (Reef Shark) · C. tilstoni (Australian Blacktip Shark) · C. velox (Whitenose Shark) · C. wheeleri (Blacktail Reef Shark)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 01, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. 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 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. (125, Vol. 4, Part 2), 655 p. [back]
  2. Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve (1993). Australian fisheries resources. Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra, Australia. 422 p. [back]
  3. Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens (1994). Sharks and rays of Australia. CSIRO, Australia. 513 p. [back]
  4. Compagno, L.J.V. and V.H. Niem (1998). Carcharhinidae. Requiem sharks. p. 1312-1360. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO, Rome. [back]
  5. Pillans, R., Stevens, J.D. & White, W.T. 2009. Carcharhinus sorrah. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]
  6. Eschmeyer, W.N., Editor (1999). Catalog of fishes. Updated database version of November 1999. Catalog databases as made available to FishBase in November 1999. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012