Dusky shark
Scientific name: Carcharhinus obscurus (Lesueur, 1818)
Overview
The dusky shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, occurring in tropical and warm-temperate continental seas worldwide. A generalist apex predator, the dusky shark can be found from the coast to the outer continental shelf and adjacent pelagic waters, and has been recorded from a depth of 400 m (1,300 ft). Populations migrate seasonally towards the poles in the summer and towards the equator in the winter, traveling hundreds to thousands of kilometers. One of the largest members of its genus, the dusky shark reaches more than 4 m (13 ft) in length and 350 kg (770 lb) in weight. It has a slender, streamlined body and can be identified by its short round snout, long sickle-shaped pectoral fins, ridge between the first and second dorsal fins, and faintly marked fins.
From the Wikipedia article “Dusky shark”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
Common names
Names in other languages (11)
- Arabic
- قرش داكن
- Chinese
- 大沙, 灰真鯊(暗體真鯊), 灰色白眼鮫, 灰色真鯊, 灰色真鲨
- French
- requin obscur
- German
- düsterer Hai, Schwarzhai
- Indonesian
- Hiu kelabu
- Japanese
- ドタブカ
- Persian
- کوسه تیره
- Portuguese
- Tubarão-negro
- Russian
- Тёмная акула
- Spanish
- jaquetón lobo, tiburón arenero, tiburón gambuso
- Turkish
- esmer köpekbalığı
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: FishBase.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q833586, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Dusky shark”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Happy Little Nomad from Everywhere, Anywhere, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Chris_huh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026