Portal:Marine life/Selected Article/April, 2007

$$fgf$$ The oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, is a large pelagic shark of tropical and warm temperate seas. It is a stocky shark, most notable for its long, white tipped rounded fins.

This aggressive but slow-moving fish dominates feeding frenzies, and has attacked more humans than all other shark species combined — it is a notable danger to survivors of oceanic ship wrecks and downed aircraft. Recent studies have shown that its numbers are in steep decline — its large fins are highly valued as the chief ingredient of shark fin soup and, as with other shark species, the oceanic whitetip faces mounting pressure from fishing throughout its range.

The oceanic whitetip shark was first described by naturalist René Lesson in his account of observations made during Louis Duperrey's 1822–1825 circumnavigation of the world on the corvette Coquille. Lesson described two specimens found in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia, and named the shark Squalus maou after a Polynesian word for "shark". However, Lesson's description and name were forgotten.

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