Carcharhinus longimanus
Open-sea shark with a huge, rounded first dorsal fin and white tips on its fins, often accompanied by pilot fish. Critically Endangered (CR) in Brazil and worldwide: capture banned.
Also called: tubarão-galha-branca-oceânico, tubarão-galha-branca, cação-galha-branca, cação-troço-troço
The oceanic whitetip shark is a circumglobal pelagic shark of tropical and warm temperate waters, which rises to the surface and sometimes comes close to the coast. It travels with remoras, dolphinfish and pilot fish, and eats oceanic fish (including tunas and dolphinfish), squid, rays, turtles, seabirds and carrion. Satellite tagging in the Bahamas showed that it spends 99.7% of its time above 200 m, that several individuals returned to the area after travelling hundreds of kilometres, and that it makes short dives down to 1,082 m, more often at night. The population has suffered a severe decline, and the species is Critically Endangered (CR) on the national list and in the IUCN global assessment. It is a bold shark, and FishBase links it to open-sea attacks: respect it. Do not seek out the species.
Robust body, with a huge first dorsal fin with a rounded tip, and long, broad pectoral fins, like oars. Short, rounded snout. Grey-bronze back, sometimes brown or bluish; pale belly, sometimes yellowish. White (or white-spotted) tips on the first dorsal, the pectorals and the lower lobe of the tail; juveniles have dark spots. Often travels with remoras and pilot fish. The reef whitetip shark is much smaller, slimmer and a reef dweller; the dusky shark and the bull shark (cabeça-chata) have no white tips.
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Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
Circumglobal in tropical and subtropical waters (FishBase: 46°N to 43°S), in open sea and on the shelf edge, farther from the coast than most sharks on this list. In Brazil, further offshore, on all coasts.
Habitat: Open sea, from the surface to the slope (dives down to about 1,000 m), usually over waters more than 184 m deep; only sometimes comes close to the coast.
coast
Estimate: no well-documented season in Brazil; the weights are neutral. Capture is banned all year.
Any time. Active by day and by night: in the Bahamas there was no difference between the average depth by day and by night; deep dives were more frequent at night.
Prefers water of 18 to 28 °C (FishBase).
Little known effect.
No known effect.
Not very relevant.
Not applicable at sea.
Curious and not very shy; often hangs around boats and schools.
Rough seas end trips offshore.
No relevant tide in the ocean; currents and schools of fish matter.
99.7% of the time above 200 m; short dives down to 1,082 m.
accessories
If an oceanic whitetip bites by accident, do not bring it aboard. Keep it alongside, in the water, and cut the line flush with the hook. It is a bold shark: work with no one in the water and everyone aboard alert.
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: On the national list as CR (it was VU on the previous list). Global: Critically Endangered (CR, assessed 07/11/2018 by the IUCN). Appendix II of CITES since 14/09/2014. The whole family Carcharhinidae has been in Appendix II of CITES since 25/11/2023.
The national list (Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026) classifies the species as CR. Under Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.666/2026 (art. 3), VU, EN and CR species have full protection: catch, transport, storage, processing and trade are banned. If you hook one by accident, release it right away, with minimal handling.
Source: Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.666/2026, art. 3º, and Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026
In Brazil, finning is banned: cutting off the fins and discarding the rest of the body. The rule covers landing, transport, and trade by fishing vessels: every shark or ray must arrive whole, with its fins naturally attached to the body (partially folding them against the body is allowed); carrying an animal aboard without fins or with loose fins, and transferring sharks and rays between vessels, is prohibited. This does not authorize catching this species, which is banned.
ICCAT Recommendation 10-07 requires member countries to prohibit, in any fishery, retaining on board, transshipping, landing, storing, selling or offering for sale the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), whole or in parts. It is an obligation for countries, not a rule for the angler: how each country applies it to recreational fishing varies, and we did not check each country's domestic rules or the current ICCAT compendium. When in doubt, release it in the water.
Source: ICCAT Recommendation 10-07 (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas)
In NOAA Fisheries' compliance guide for recreational Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) fishing, the oceanic whitetip shark is on the prohibited retention list: it must be released. Since 2 February 2024 it has been illegal to possess or retain the oceanic whitetip in the US exclusive economic zone. The rule applies to HMS license holders wherever they fish, and includes the US Caribbean. The guide says to release any shark with an interdorsal ridge when identification is in doubt. Confirm Puerto Rico's local rules with the competent agency.
In recreational sport fishing in Mexican saltwaters, the limit for sharks is one specimen per angler per day, which counts as five toward the total limit of ten fish. Fish caught in sport fishing may not be sold. Catch and release does not count toward the limit: prefer releasing.
In 2021 Colombia stopped considering sharks and marine rays a fishery resource and began treating them as a hydrobiological resource; the recitals of Decree 281/2021 state that they may not be extracted for commercial or sport purposes, and the decree created an environmental protection plan. Later AUNAP rules dealt with incidental catch in artisanal fishing; we did not check the consolidated text. When in doubt, release it into the water.
Federal Fisheries Council Resolution 8/2021 (Consejo Federal Pesquero) bans directed fishing for chondrichthyans (sharks, rays and chimaeras), finning (cutting off the fins and discarding the body) and the use of gaffs to return live animals to the sea, and requires that sharks caught by chance be returned quickly and with minimal trauma, except cazón, gatuzo, pez ángel, espinoso and pintarroja. The text refers to trips and vessels, that is, the federal commercial fleet, and invites the provinces to adopt similar measures; we did not find a specific rule for sport fishing in Buenos Aires. For sport anglers, good practice is to release the shark in the water, without a gaff.
Law 9 of 2006 bans finning in Panama's jurisdictional waters. The law's definition of shark fishing covers directed or incidental catch by artisanal, commercial, industrial and sport vessels. The fine for artisanal fishing reaches 1,000 balboas, without prejudice to criminal liability. In the sources we checked, we did not find a specific Panamanian rule on retention or release for sport anglers.
This is not catch and release: it is release of accidental catch. Do not bring the shark aboard; keep it alongside, in the water, and cut the line as close to the hook as possible. It is bold and may circle the boat: keep everyone out of the water and do not take photos.
Capture and trade banned in Brazil. In other countries the meat, leather, liver oil and fins were used (FishBase), but the species is now Critically Endangered: release it.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00562, b = 3.06; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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The seasonal weights (months), the time of day and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water and noise) are the app's editorial estimates, based on the literature below and on field experience from anglers and guides. The water temperature range and the common size range are also editorial estimates, supported by FishBase. The months show when an angler usually finds the species, not a catch season. They are not official data or measurements made for this species, and they may vary by region and year. Legal rules appear in the rules section, with the norm and a link.
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