FEATURE CREATURE
FEATURE CREATURE OCEANIC WHITETIP SHARK (CARCHARHINUS LONGIMANUS ) FEATURE IUCN RED LIST 2019 PHOTOGRAPHY PHILIPPE LECOMTE
RED LIST CATEGORY & CRITERIA: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Scientific Name: Carcharhinus longimanus Synonyms: Squalus longimanus Poey, 1861 Common Names: English: Oceanic Whitetip Shark,Whitetip Oceanic Shark, White-tipped Shark, Whitetip Shark French: Requin Océanique Spanish: Tiburón Oceanico
all oceans. The Oceanic Whitetip Shark was once one of the most abundant pelagic shark species in tropical seas worldwide but is now rare in some regions. The global population is estimated to have undergone a reduction of >98%, with the highest probability of >80% reduction over three generation lengths (61.2 years). Therefore, the Oceanic Whitetip Shark is assessed as Critically Endangered A2bd.
JUSTIFICATION The Oceanic Whitetip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) is a large (to 350 cm total length) wide-ranging, oceanic species of tropical and temperate seas worldwide with a preference for surface waters, though it has been reported to depths of 1,082 m. It has litters of 1-15 pups and likely has a biennial reproductive cycle. The species is caught globally as target and bycatch in pelagic large and small-scale longline, purse seine, and gillnet fisheries and is often retained for the meat and fins, unless regulations prohibit retention. The species has a high catchability due to its preference for surface waters and its inquisitive nature. Steep population declines have occurred in
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED RED LIST ASSESSMENTS 2015 – Vulnerable (VU) 2006 – Vulnerable (VU) 2000 – Lower Risk/Near Threatened (LR/NT)
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DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT | MARCH 2020
GEOGRAPHIC RANGE Range Description: The Oceanic Whitetip Shark occurs worldwide in tropical and temperate waters (Last & Stevens 2009, Ebert et al. 2013). Country Occurrence: Native: American Samoa; Angola; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Aruba; Australia; Bahamas; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belize; Benin; Bermuda; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba; Brazil; British
Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago); Brunei Darussalam; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Cayman Islands; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia (Colombia (mainland), Colombian Caribbean Is.); Comoros; Congo,The Democratic Republic of the; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Côte d’Ivoire; Cuba; Curaçao; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador (Ecuador (mainland), Galápagos); Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Fiji; France (Clipperton I., France (mainland)); French Guiana; French Polynesia; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Israel; Jamaica; Japan; Kenya; Liberia; Macao; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Montserrat; Morocco; Myanmar; Nauru; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niue; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Pitcairn; Portugal (Azores, Madeira); Puerto Rico; Réunion; Saint Barthélemy; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Saint Kitts
