SHARKS

480 Sharks
Carcharhinus galapagensis (Snodgrass and Heller, 1905) CCG
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / Carcharhinus obscurus (Lesueur, 1818).
FAO names: En - Galapagos shark; Fr - Requin de Galapagos; Sp - Tiburón de Galápagos.
ventral view of head
upper and lower
tooth near centre
Diagnostic characters: Body slender to moderately stout. Eyes large, internal nictitating lower eyelids present.
Snout rounded and short, about 1.0 to 1.3 times internarial width; anterior nasal flaps rudimentary;labial
furrows short. Upper teeth broadly triangular, erect to moderately oblique, the anterior ones strongly
serrated and with higher, broad cusps not delimited from the bases; lower teeth with high, narrow cusps
and serrations; anteroposterior tooth row counts 13 to 15/13 to 15 on each side, total tooth row counts 27 to
31/27 to 31.Spiracles absent;gill slits relatively short, height of third gill slit about 2.8 to 3.5% of total length;gill
arches without papillae. First dorsal fin high, height 9.5 to 11.2% of total length; first dorsal fin with a convex
or nearly straight anterior margin, a narrowly rounded or pointed apex, an origin over inner margins of
pectoral fins and the midlength of its base somewhat closer to the pectoral-fin insertions than the pelvic-fin
origins; second dorsal fin moderately high although much smaller than the first dorsal fin, height 2.6 to
2.8% of total length; second dorsal fin with a broadly concave posterior margin, an origin over or slightly
anterior to that of anal fin, a slightly elongated free rear tip, and an inner margin less than twice the fin height;
anal fin with a deeply notched posterior margin and without long preanal ridges; pectoral fins nearly straight
and apically pointed, not falcate. A low interdorsal ridge present; no keels on caudal peduncle. Precaudal
vertebral centra 103 to 109, total vertebral centra 200 to 215. Colour: dark grey above, light below, fins plain
except for slightly dusky tips in some individuals.
Size: Maximum size about 3.7 m total length, common to 3 m; size at birth about 57 to 80 cm; males maturing
between 170 and 236 cm, females at about 235 cm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A wide-ranging, inshore and offshore shark often preferring the coastal waters
around islands to those of the continental shelf. Viviparous, number of fetuses 4 to 16. Feeds on bottom
fishes, including basses, flatheads, eels, and flatfishes;
also on cephalopods and bivalves. A bold
and inquisitive species, sometimes pestering divers
but rarely biting people. No information on
utilization or fishing methods are available for the
area, but likely fished because of its abundance
in insular habitats.
Distribution: Widely distributed in tropical and
subtropical seas, but of spotty occurrence in the
Pacific and Atlantic, primarily off islands but offshore
in continental waters in the eastern Pacific.
In the area occurs off the Virgin Islands, but possibly
more wide-ranging; common off Bermuda.