Salmon Shark: Lamna ditropis Hubbs & Follet, 1947
A shark most abundant where herring and salmon are numerous
Size
- Up to 3.1 m total length
Color & Characteristics
- Dark bluish gray on back and sides; white on underside, often with dark dusky spots and blotches
- Teeth elongate and smooth, one pair of cusplets at base
- Pectoral fin base below 1st dorsal fin
- Anal fin and 2nd dorsal fin very small, placed opposite each other
- Secondary lateral keel present on tail
Habitat
- Boreal Pacific species
- Rarely found as far north as Bering Strait
- Pelagic, coastal and oceanic
- Primarily epipelagic, reported to a depth of 792 m
Feeding
- Fast-moving, active predator
- Feeds on salmon, herring, sablefish, walleye pollock, rockfishes, and other fishes
Life cycle
- Ovoviviparous
- In the uterus, developing sharks feed on fertilized and unfertilized eggs
Page Author: CW Mecklenburg & TA Mecklenburg
Created: February 4, 2011
