Eusphyra blochii, Winghead shark : fisheries

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Eusphyra blochii (Cuvier, 1816)

Winghead shark
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Eusphyra blochii   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Eusphyra blochii (Winghead shark)
Eusphyra blochii
Female picture by Harris, M.

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

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead, bonnethead, or scoophead sharks)
Etymology: Eusphyra: eu- (Gr.), good, well or very; sphyra (Gr.), hammer, referring to immense hammer-shaped head. (See ETYFish);  blochii: In honor of physician-naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723-1799), who described and illustrated this shark in 1785, which he identified as Squalus zygaena. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Cuvier.

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

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; amphidromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 31°N - 20°S, 47°E - 154°E

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

Indo-West Pacific: Persian Gulf to the Philippines, north to China, south to Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 120 - ? cm
Max length : 186 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6871)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0. Grey or grey-brown above, paler below. Expanded lateral blades of head very narrow and wing-like, with a series of small bumps along edges in front of nostrils; width across head 40 or 50% of total length. Nostrils enormously expanded, each nearly 2 times the mouth head (Ref 13562).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in shallow water on continental and insular shelves (Ref. 244). Enters estuaries (Ref. 4832). Feeds mainly on small teleost fishes but also takes crustaceans and cephalopods (Ref. 13562). Viviparous (Ref. 50449), with 6 to 25 pups in a litter (Ref. 6871). Has a remarkable wing-shaped head which is nearly or quite half of its body length, the function of which is uncertain, maybe for maneuvering or for increasing the surface area of some of the sense organs (Ref. 244). Probably harmless to people (Ref. 13562). Caught commonly, but in low numbers, by inshore gillnet fisheries. Particularly common in catches off Kalimantan (Ref.58048). Probably a common fisheries species where it occurs (Ref. 13562). Meat utilized for human consumption; liver is a source of vitamin oil (Ref. 244). Offal probably utilized for fishmeal (Ref. 13562). Reported to reach 300 cm TL (Ref. 58784).

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

Viviparous, placental (Ref. 50449), with 6 to 25 in a litter after a gestation period of 8 (Ref.58048) -11 months (Ref. 6871). Size at birth between 32 and 45 cm TL (Ref. 13562).

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)

  Endangered (EN) (A2d+3d); Date assessed: 18 February 2015

CITES


CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless (Ref. 13562)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | 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): 25.2 - 29.1, mean 28.3 °C (based on 970 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0010   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00513 (0.00275 - 0.00956), b=3.24 (3.07 - 3.41), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec=6).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 16.6 [2.7, 88.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.526 [0.132, 1.586] mg/100g; Protein = 18.9 [16.9, 21.1] %; Omega3 = 0.129 [0.056, 0.295] g/100g; Selenium = 76.7 [22.3, 229.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 19 [8, 48] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.721 [0.349, 1.352] mg/100g (wet weight);