Life history and ecology of a large shortfin mako shark captured in southern California
Published on 21. May 2015
Insights into the life history and ecology of a large shortfin mako shark Isurus oxyrinchus captured in southern California
K. Lyons, A. Preti, D. J. Madigan, R. J. D. Wells, M. E. Blasiu1, O. E. Snodgrass, D. Kacev, J. D. Harris, H. Dewar, S. Kohin, K. MacKenzie, C. G. Lowe
ABSTRACT:
In June 2013, a record-breaking female Isurus oxyrinchus (total length 373 cm, mass 600 kg) was captured by rod and reel off Huntington Beach, California, where it was subsequently donated to research and provided a rare opportunity to collect the first data for a female I. oxyrinchus of this size. Counts of vertebral band pairs estimate the shark to have been c. 22 years old, depending upon assumptions of band-pair deposition rates, and the distended uteri and spent ovaries indicated that this shark had recently given birth. The stomach contained a c. 4 year-old female California sea lion Zalophus californianus that confirmed the high trophic position of this large I. oxyrinchus, which was corroborated with the high levels of measured contaminants and tissue isotope analyses.
Journal of Fish Biology. doi: 10.1111/jfb.12709