Prionace glauca, Blue shark : fisheries, gamefish

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Prionace glauca (Linnaeus, 1758)

Blue shark
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Prionace glauca   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Italy country information

Common names: Cacciutieddu de mari, Cagna, Cagnizza blu
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Compagno, L.J.V., 1984
National Database: ICTIMED

Common names from other countries

Peau bleue, Tiburón azul, Акула синяя, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks)
Etymology: Prionace: prion (Gr.), saw; akis (Gr.), point or barb, referring to serrated (saw-like) cusps on teeth of upper jaw (See ETYFish); glauca: Latin for bluish green or gray (i.e., sea-colored), referring to its color (blue above, whitish below) (See ETYFish).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 1082 m (Ref. 89422), usually 1 - 220 m (Ref. 55193). Subtropical; 7°C - 21°C (Ref. 244); 70°N - 55°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Circumglobal in temperate and tropical waters. Western Atlantic: Newfoundland, Canada to Argentina. Central Atlantic. Eastern Atlantic: Norway to South Africa, including the Mediterranean. Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to Indonesia, Japan, Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. Eastern Pacific: Gulf of Alaska to Chile. Probably the widest ranging chondrichthyian. Highly migratory species.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 199.1, range 170 - 221 cm
Max length : 400 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); common length : 335 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 205.9 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 27347)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A slim, graceful blue shark with a long, conical snout, large eyes, and curved triangular upper teeth with saw edges; pectorals long and narrow; no interdorsal ridge (Ref. 5578). Dark blue dorsally, bright blue on the sides, white ventrally (Ref. 5578). Tips of pectoral fins and anal fin dusky (Ref. 9997). The first case of diprosopus tetrophthalmus (cranofacial duplication) in a foetus of this species was reported from South Atlantic (Ref. 119190).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Oceanic, but may be found close inshore where the continental shelf is narrow (Ref. 6871, 58302). Usually found to at least 150 m (Ref. 26938). Maximum size from Ref. 128029. Reported from estuaries (Ref. 26340). Epipelagic, occasionally occurs in littoral areas (Ref. 58302). Feeds on fishes (herring, silver hake, white hake, red hake, cod, haddock, pollock, mackerel, butterfish, sea raven and flounders (Ref. 5951)), small sharks, squids, pelagic red crabs, cetacean carrion, occasional sea birds and garbage (Ref. 5578). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Sexual dimorphism occurs in skin thickness of maturing and adult females (Ref. 49562). May travel considerable distances (one specimen tagged in New Zealand was recaptured 1,200 km off the coast of Chile) (Ref. 26346). Potentially dangerous to humans (Ref. 6871, 13513). Marketed fresh, dried or salted, and frozen; meat utilized for consumption, hides for leather and fins for soup (Ref. 9987). Sexually mature at 250 cm long and 4-5 years old. The female gives birth up to 80 young measuring 40 cm long, gestation lasts almost a year (Ref. 35388). Produces from 4 to 135 young a litter (Ref. 26938). Minimum depth from Ref. 125614.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Viviparous (Ref. 26281), placental (Ref. 50449); 4-63 young in a litter (Ref. 9997); 4-135 (usually 15-30) pups (Ref.58048), about 35-44 cm at birth. Gestation period ranges from 9 to 12 months (Ref. 244). Sexual dimorphism is evident in skin thickness of maturing and adult females (Ref. 49562). Females have thicker skin layer than males of the same size (Ref. 49562).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

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(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Near Threatened (NT) (A2bd); Date assessed: 06 November 2018

CITES

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 5.9 - 25.2, mean 14.8 °C (based on 1945 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00382 - 0.00547), b=3.09 (3.04 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 8.5 (7.3 - 9.2) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 25 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (rm=0.031; K=0.16; tm=6; tmax=20; Fec=4-135).
Prior r = 0.19, 95% CL = 0.12 - 0.28, Based on 9 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (73 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (57 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 7.26 [1.20, 39.50] mg/100g; Iron = 0.69 [0.17, 2.12] mg/100g; Protein = 22.1 [19.8, 24.2] %; Omega3 = 0.337 [0.134, 0.841] g/100g; Selenium = 15.4 [5.5, 45.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.1 [1.9, 18.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.232 [0.129, 0.610] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.