Alopias pelagicus
The smallest of the thresher sharks: dark blue back, no white patch on the pectorals and a whip-like tail. It lives in tropical seas; in Latin America, in the Pacific, and is Endangered (EN) in the IUCN global assessment.
Also called: tubarão-raposa-pelágico
The pelagic thresher is the smallest of the three thresher sharks and the most tied to open tropical seas, although it sometimes comes close to the coast and even into atoll lagoons. It usually lives between the surface and about 150 m. Like its relatives, it stuns small fish and cephalopods with lashes of its upper tail lobe. It is a very common catch on tuna and shark longlines and tuna drift nets, and occasionally takes sport anglers' lines. Reliable records are rare partly because the species is confused with the common thresher. The IUCN classifies it as Endangered (EN, 2018). It does not occur in Brazil; in Latin America it is from the Pacific, from Mexico to Ecuador.
A small thresher with moderately large eyes, a convex forehead and straight pectoral fins with broad tips. Upper tail lobe ribbon-shaped, almost as long as the rest of the body; very narrow tail tip. Dark blue back on the flanks, white belly, and no white patch on the pectorals that marks the common thresher. The bigeye thresher has huge eyes and a sunken forehead.
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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 seas, with records in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific (Hawaii and Tahiti) and the eastern Pacific (Gulf of California and Galapagos). In Latin America, FishBase lists it for Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Ecuador, all in the Pacific. Brazil is not on FishBase's country list.
Habitat: Tropical open sea, from the surface to about 150 m (down to 300 m); sometimes near the coast and in atoll lagoons.
Estimate: no documented season; the weights are neutral. Where fishing is allowed, it is best to release the species.
Any time. There is no reliable data on daily activity timing; FishBase only says it is pelagic and epipelagic.
Tropical species; cold water keeps it away.
Little known effect.
No known effect.
Not very relevant.
Not applicable at sea.
Not well known.
Rough seas end trips offshore.
No relevant tide in the ocean; currents and temperature fronts matter.
From the surface to about 150 m, sometimes down to 300 m.
accessories
If a thresher shark bites by accident, release it beside the boat, in the water, cutting the line flush with the hook. Watch out for the tail whip.
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: Global: Endangered (EN, criterion A2bd), assessed 06/11/2018 (IUCN, version 2025-2, via FishBase). Does not occur in Brazil. Since 2017 all thresher sharks have been in Appendix II of CITES.
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.
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.
Keep the shark in the water, beside the boat, and cut the line as close to the hook as possible. Do not lift it by the long tail and avoid photos out of the water.
Used by commercial fishing: meat, liver oil, leather and fins (FishBase). As it is Endangered, the good practice is to release it.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.01047, b = 2.94; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa)). 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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