Common names: thresher (English), tiburón zorro (Espanol)
 
Alopias pelagicus Nakamura, 1935


Pelagic thresher


Body stout, cylindrical; head short, rounded between eyes, narrow; snout elongate, conical; forehead profile ~ straight; no groove on nape; eyes small; mouth small, ventral; teeth small, asymmetric, notched and serrated; gill openings - 5, short, last 2 over pectoral base; first dorsal large, midway between pectorals and pelvics; second dorsal and anal very small; pectorals very long, straight, with broad tips; pelvics large;  upper lobe of tail extremely long, ~ equal to body length; no keels on tail base.

Back  blue to grey, belly white;  white of belly not extending onto flank over pectoral fin.


Size: 365 cm.

Habitat: oceanic, pelagic.

Depth: 0-700 m.

Indo-Pacific; central California to the Gulf of California, and the Revillagigedos and the Galapagos.