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Rhizoprionodon acutus, Milk shark : fisheries, gamefish

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Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837)

Milk shark
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Rhizoprionodon acutus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
  • Image of Rhizoprionodon acutus (Milk shark)
    Rhizoprionodon acutus
    Male picture by Cambraia Duarte, P.M.N. (c)ImagDOP
  • Image of Rhizoprionodon acutus (Milk shark)
    Rhizoprionodon acutus
    Juvenile picture by JJPhoto

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: Rhizoprionodon: rhiza (Gr.), root; prion (Gr.) saw; odon (Gr.), tooth, referring to teeth with serrated (saw-like) bases, or roots [replacement name for Rhizoprion Ogilby 1915, preoccupied by Rhizoprion Jourdan 1861 in mammals] (See ETYFish); acutus: Latin for sharp or pointed, probably referring to narrow, pointed snout (See ETYFish).
More on author: Rüppell.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 200 m (Ref. 244). Tropical; 41°N - 30°S, 27°W - 156°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: Madeira and Mauritania to Angola (Ref. 244). Indo-West Pacific: Persian Gulf (Ref. 68964), Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia, north to Japan, south to Australia. Also reported from Gulf of Taranto in Mediterranean Sea (Ref. 231).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 75.0, range 70 - 80 cm
Max length : 175 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12693); 80.8 cm TL (female); common length : 110 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 47737); max. published weight: 5.0 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 8 years (Ref. 244)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A small shark with a long, narrow, snout, big eyes without notches, long labial furrows, and oblique-cusped teeth which may be smooth-edged or weakly serrated; 2nd dorsal fin small, low and behind larger anal fin; no interdorsal ridge (Ref. 5578). Grey or grey-brown above, white below (Ref. 5578). Dorsal and anal fins with dusky or blackish edges, fins slightly darker than back (Ref. 9997).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found on continental shelves, often on sandy beaches and rarely in estuaries (Ref. 244). Reported to enter freshwater and recorded several times from Cambodia as far upstream as the Great Lake (Ref. 12693). Occurs near the surface in shallow waters (Ref. 12693). Feeds mainly on small pelagic and benthic bony fishes, also cephalopods and other invertebrates (Ref. 244). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Utilized fresh and possibly dried salted for human consumption and for fishmeal (Ref. 9997). The 178 cm specimen recorded off Africa is possibly based on some other species (Ref. 9997).

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

Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Viviparous, with a yolk-sac placenta; 2 to 8 in a litter (Ref. 9997), usually 2 to 5 after a gestation period of ~ 12 months; no seasonality in the reproductive cycle (Ref.58048). Size at birth between 25 and 39 cm.

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 2024-2)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 04 February 2020

CITES

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless (Ref. 244)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 19.6 - 28.5, mean 26.9 °C (based on 1463 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00347 (0.00280 - 0.00429), b=3.07 (3.03 - 3.11), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 5.5 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=0.2-0.6; Fec=1).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (61 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 16.4 [2.3, 90.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.575 [0.146, 1.652] mg/100g; Protein = 21.2 [18.2, 23.5] %; Omega3 = 0.198 [0.082, 0.472] g/100g; Selenium = 58 [16, 171] μg/100g; VitaminA = 20.7 [7.9, 53.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.698 [0.324, 1.318] mg/100g (wet weight);


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