Bigeye thresher

Taxobox | name = Bigeye thresher


image_caption = Alopias superciliosus
image_width = 240px
status = VU
status_system = iucn3.1
status_ref = cite press release |title=More oceanic sharks added to the IUCN Red List |publisher=IUCN |date=2007-02-22 |url=http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2007/02/22_pr_sharks.htm |format= |language= |accessdate=2007-02-25 |quote=All three species of thresher sharks, known for scythe-like tails that can be as long as their bodies - were listed as "Vulnerable" globally. ]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
ordo = Lamniformes
familia = Alopiidae
genus = "Alopias"
species = "A. superciliosus"
range_

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range_map_width = 240px
range_map_caption = Range of bigeye thresher shark (in blue)
binomial = "Alopias superciliosus"
binomial_authority = Lowe, 1841The bigeye thresher, "Alopias superciliosus", is a thresher shark of the genus "Alopias", found in tropical oceans worldwide, at depths down to 500 m. Its length is up to 5 m (more typically 3 to 4 m), and weight up to 360 kg (more typically 160 kg).

The bigeye thresher is a large shark, with very large eyes indicating time spent at unlit depths. It has an indented forehead and large broad pectoral fins, and the first dorsal fin set further back than that of other thresher sharks. The upper caudal lobe is very long and strap-like, virtually the same length as the body.

The colour is purplish grey above, bream below, with posterior edges of pectoral and pelvic fins dusky.

Bigeye threshers are found in all types of water; coastal shallows, over the continental shelf, and at sea far from land, at all depths down to 500 m.

This species exhibits the rare trait of Ovophagy, whereby sibling fetuses may eat each other before birth. [ [http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=MF9920077 Reproductive biology of the Bigeye Thresher Shark, Alopias superciliosus (Lowe, 1939)] ]

References

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*Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
* [http://www.shark.ch/Database/Search/species.html?sh_id=1116 Bigeye thresher shark in the Shark Database]