Common thresher: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the common thresher lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Alopias vulpinus
Group	Sharks
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	North America, Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Lamniformes
Family	Alopiidae

Where does the common thresher live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the common thresher in 2 countries and territories across North America and Oceania. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the common thresher endangered?

The common thresher’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the common thresher?

The common thresher (Alopias vulpinus) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Lamniformes and the family Alopiidae, genus Alopias. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the common thresher

The common thresher (Alopias vulpinus), also known as Atlantic thresher, is the largest species of thresher shark, family Alopiidae, reaching 6 m (20 ft) in length. About half of its length consists of the elongated upper lobe of its caudal fin. With a streamlined body, short pointed snout, and modestly sized eyes, the common thresher resembles the pelagic thresher (A. pelagicus). It can be distinguished from the latter species by the white of its belly extending in a band over the bases of its pectoral fins. The common thresher is distributed worldwide in tropical and temperate waters, though it prefers cooler temperatures. It can be found both close to shore and in the open ocean, from the surface to a depth of 550 m (1,800 ft). It is seasonally migratory and spends summers at lower latitudes.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Common thresher (revision 1367449524), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q618595 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).