Blue sharks are sleek, open-water hunters that patrol temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, often seen cruising the blue at 50–250 m depth. Slender and streamlined, they reach around 4 m and are unmistakable: deep blue backs, bright white bellies, and long pectoral fins. Highly migratory, they may cross entire ocean basins; females give birth to live young after a long gestation. Listed as Near Threatened, they face pressure from fishing but remain relatively common in offshore waters.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Carcharhiniformes
- Family
- Carcharhinidae
- Genus
- Prionace