Common names
Tiburon zorro, Zorro de mar, Zorro pelágico, Renard pélagique, Requin-renard, Fox shark, Pelagic thresher, Pelagic thresher shark, Small tooth thresher shark, Smalltooth thresher, Smalltooth thresher shark, Thresher shark, Whiptail shark, Tubarão-raposo-do-Indico, Zorro pelágico

Short Description
A small thresher with moderately large eyes, a broadly convex forehead, a very narrow caudal tip, and straight, broad-tipped pectoral fins [536]. Upper lobe of caudal fin very long and strap-like, almost equal to length of rest of shark; lower lobe short but strong; terminal lobe very small [20050]. Dark blue on back and sides, underside white; no white patch over pectoral fin bases [536].
Diet: 2013: Ecuadorian waters (data base: 111 speciemens, collected between June and December 2003): Stomach content analysis showed that approximately 77% (n: 85) of stomachs contained prey, of 24 species, including one crustacean, 7 cephalopods, and 16 teleost fishes. According to the %IRI, the three most common components were Dosidicus gigas (66%), Behthosema panamense (30%) and Sthenoteuthis oualanensis (2.9%). The monthly dietary data showed that sharks mainly fed on these three species across all seasons, but the sample sizes were small in some months. Other fish, such as the Pacific sardine Sardinops sagax Jenyns, 1842, hake Merluccius gayi Guichenot, 1848 and squid Loliolopsis diomedeae Hoyle, 1904, were also important prey in some months. [19463]

Distribution
Circumglobal. Indo-Pacific: Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Maldives [12155], Somalia, South Africa, Western Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan, New Caledonia, Hawaiian Islands and Tahiti. Eastern Pacific: Gulf of California and the Galapagos. Reliable records lacking partly due to its confusion with Alopias vulpinus. Firs record: 2012: Lakshadweep Sea, India (10°52'N latitude 72°13'E longitude) [15389]; 2019: New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean [27359] Source: www.gbif.org

Human uses
fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes

Biology
Exhibit ovoviparity (aplacental viviparity), with embryos feeding on other ova produced by the mother (oophagy) after the yolk sac is absorbed [733] (Ref. 42326). Usually with at least two young [1388]. Size at birth about 100 cm [1388]; 130-160 cm TL [2539]. Distinct pairing with embrace [17086]. A carnivore [17641]. A pelagic species occasionally advancing into coastal waters [17641].

Size / Weight / Age
347 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 48844)); 383 cm TL (female); max. reported age: 29 years (Ref. 48844)

Habitat
pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous [17660]; marine; depth range 0 - 300 m (Ref. 37816), usually 0 - 150 m (Ref. 55167)

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=189; CITES: (see: Protected Species for more details) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Speciesof Wild Fauna and Flora annex: II; Council Regulation 2017/160 annex: B

Parasites (arranged by Jürgen Pollerspöck)
Cestoda

• Heterosphyriocephalus encarnae Dallares, Carrasson & Schaeffner, 2017 [25091]
• Litobothrium aenigmaticum Caira, Jensen, Waeschenbach & Littlewood, 2014 [21155] [23771] [25740]
• Litobothrium amplifica (Kurochkin & Slankis, 1973) [7374] [16908] [21155] [23771]
• Litobothrium daileyi Kurochkin & Slankis, 1973 [16929] [7374] [23771]
• Litobothrium janovyi Olson & Caira, 2001 [21155]
• Litobothrium nickoli Olson & Caira, 2001 [7374] [21155] [23771]
• Nybelinia sp. [22562] [16578]

Trematoda

• Paronatrema davidbowiei Santoro, Occhibove & Lopez-Verdejo, 2024 [33424]
• Paronatrema sp. [22678]
• Paronatrema vaginicola Dollfus, 1937 [23771]

Nematoda

• Anisakis sp. [22562] [16578]

Copepoda

• Bariaka alopiae Cressey, 1966 [28156]
• Dinemoura discrepans Cressey, 1967 [14993]
• Echthrogaleus asiaticus Ho, Liu & Lin, 2012 [21826]
• Echthrogaleus denticulatus Smith, 1873 [16599] [15303] [22562] [16578] [19355] [19356] [25961]
• Nogagus ambiguus Scott, 1907 [22562] [16578]
• Pandarus cranchii Leach, 1819 [25102]