One of the 26 sharks on WAnimals
Cartilaginous fish · Carcharhiniformes · Carcharhinidae
Blue Shark
Prionace glauca
It could become endangered in the near future if current threats go unchecked. See full glossary
It can produce as many as 135 pups in a single litter, one of the highest fecundities recorded in any shark. Its striking deep blue skin has earned it the nickname of the most beautiful shark in the ocean.
Weight
27 kg – 391 kg
Size
1.7 m – 4 m
Lifespan
18 years
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Irregular activity
Active at irregular times, by day or night depending on circumstances.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- comportamientoIt can travel thousands of kilometres on transoceanic migrations, and tagged individuals have been recorded crossing the whole Atlantic.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - cartilaginous skeleton (chondrichthyan fish)
- Habitat & environment
- Temperate and tropical oceanic waters worldwide, one of the most widely distributed and migratory of all sharks
- Birth weight
- 35 - 44 cm long at birth
- Size at birth
- 35 - 44 cm long at birth
- Sexual maturity
- Male: 4-6 years (~182-281 cm) | Female: 5-7 years (~220 cm)
- Gestation / incubation
- 9-12 months
- Litter / clutch size
- 4 to 135 young per litter (most commonly 15-50)
Sources consulted: Britannica; Shark Research Institute; FishBase; Animal Diversity Web; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); CMS (Convention on Migratory Species); PMC (Western Indian Ocean reproductive biology study)
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 20 de 114 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Blue Shark — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Near ThreatenedBull Shark
Carcharhinus leucas
Near ThreatenedTiger Shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
Critically EndangeredOceanic Whitetip Shark
Carcharhinus longimanus
Least ConcernGalapagos Shark
Carcharhinus galapagensis
VulnerableLemon Shark
Negaprion brevirostris
Bluntnose Sixgill Shark
Hexanchus griseus
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about blue shark.
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