Bigeye Thresher, Alopias superciliosus (Lowe 1841)

Bigeye Thresher, Alopias superciliosus. Source: Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A strong-swimming active shark that can maintain its body temperature above that of the surrounding water.

Identifying features:
Distinct grooves from top of head behind eyes to above gill slits;
Huge eyes extending onto the top part of the head;
First dorsal fin set well back on the body, rear of fin above origin of pelvic fins; pectoral fins very large with broad tips;
Upper caudal-fin lobe about equal in length to rest of body;
Brownish to purplish grey above, uniform creamy-white below.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2019, Alopias superciliosus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 11 Jun 2023, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1849

Bigeye Thresher, Alopias superciliosus (Lowe 1841)

More Info

Distribution	North West Shelf, Western Australia, and the northern Great Barrier Reef to Crowdy Head, New South Wales, and also recorded off South Australia; also at Middleton Reef, Lord Howe Island Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs worldwide in tropical to temperate oceanic waters on the continental shelf and slope, occasionally inshore. A pelagic, oceanic shark that occasionally enters shallower waters around seamounts and the edges of outer reefs. Mostly found in deeper waters during the day. A pelagic oceanic shark, occasionally found inshore around outer reefs and seamounts.
Size	To 4.9 metres.
Colour	Metallic brownish to purplish-grey above, creamy white below.
Feeding	The Bigeye Thresher feeds mostly on small pelagic fishes and squid. Thresher sharks have an unusual hunting method – herding schools of small pelagic fishes towards the surface then stunning prey with the long whip-like tail.
Biology	Thresher sharks are aplacental viviparous. The embryos develop in a primitive uterus within the female, where they feed on yolk-filled egg capsules continually produced by the mother for the developing young to consume. This is a form of intra-uterine (within-the-uterus) cannibalism, known as oophagy or oviphagy (Smith et al. 2008). Female Bigeye Threshers give birth to litters of 2-4 pups.
Fisheries	Taken as a target species and as bycatch throughout its range in gillnet, longline and trawl fisheries. The flesh is marketed fresh, dried or salted and the fins are sold in the Asian shark fin trade. The species is also caught by recreational anglers.
Conservation	EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed IUCN Red List : Vulnerable. The Bigeye Thresher is especially vulnerable to fisheries exploitation (target and bycatch) as it occurs within the range of many largely unregulated gillnet and longline fisheries.
Remarks	Thresher sharks, like other mackeral sharks, have a highly-developed vascular exchange system called the 'rete mirabile' around the brain and eyes, thought to keep the brain and eyes considerably warmer than the surrounding water temperature during deep dives into cold water.
Similar Species	Differs from the other species of thresher shark, Alopius pelagicus and Alopias vulpinus, in having the following combination of characters: a pair of deep grooves on the top of the head; the large, vertically expanded eyes extend onto the top of the head; the long upper lobe of the caudal fin is broader that in the other species; the first dorsal fin is placed further back on the body with the free rear tip positioned above or just before the pelvic fins.
Etymology	The specific name superciliosus is from the Latin super (above), and ciliosus (eyebrow), in reference to the deep grooves above the eyes.
Species Citation	Alopecias superciliosus Lowe 1841, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1840 8(89): 39. Type locality: Madeira.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2019
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Bigeye Thresher, Alopias superciliosus (Lowe 1841)

References

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