Small-fin Gulper Shark

About the Small-fin Gulper Shark

The small-fin gulper shark is a deepwater shark from the Indo-West Pacific region, found in eastern and western Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and southern Africa. 

The species is found at a depth range of 125 to 820 m. Its diet consists mostly of crustaceans and other fishes. The maximum size it grows up to is 2100 cm with females maturing at 85 cm and males at 70 cm. The size of the pups at birth are 34 cm.

Despite having high longevity, they have a late age at maturity and very low rate of reproduction (one or two pups every two years), which makes them extremely vulnerable to rapid population depletion by commercial fishing.

The eastern Australian population has been severely depleted and parts of its range are still continually fished. Recent surveys have recorded relatively high catch rates, although deepwater fishing off New South Wales and Queensland is very low.

Unfortunately there isn’t enough data to determine their populations, so they’re currently considered a data deficient species. But they could be threatened. More studies are required.

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