Definition of Alopias vulpinus

The long-tailed thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus, is a thresher shark inhabiting tropical and temperate waters worldwide. Like all thresher sharks, it has a very long upper lobe of the caudal fin, sometimes as long as the body. Its body is brown or grey with a white underside. They can grow to about 25 ft in length and 750 lb. Thresher sharks often hunt in groups or pairs, stunning their prey with their tails before feeding on it. They mostly eat other fish and squid, but have been known to kill seabirds as well. Thresher sharks are highly migratory, moving northward in the spring in order to breed. They are oviparous and litters contain two to six pups, born five feet long.