thresher shark

thresher shark
Any of five species (family Alopiidae) of sharks with a long, scythelike tail that may constitute almost half their total length.

They are found in tropical and temperate seas worldwide. They eat squid and schooling fishes, attacking after circling and herding their prey into small groups. They sometimes use their tail to stun their prey or, by thrashing the water, to frighten them. They are not considered dangerous to humans. The long-tailed thresher, or fox shark (Alopias vulpinus), is a big, dark fish that grows about 20 ft (6 m) long.

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fish
      (genus Alopias), any of three species of sharks of the family Alopiidae noted for their long, scythelike tails that may constitute almost one-half their total length. Thresher sharks are found in tropical and temperate seas throughout the world. They feed on squid and schooling fishes, attacking after circling and herding their prey into small groups. They sometimes use their tails to stun their prey or, by thrashing the water, to frighten it. They are not generally considered dangerous to man. The best-known species is the long-tailed thresher, or fox shark (A. vulpinus), a big, dark fish that grows about 6 m (20 feet) long and is found in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. The long-tailed thresher is also a common food fish.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Thresher shark — Shark Shark, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr. carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari as, so called from its sharp teeth, fr. ka rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth; or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. {Shark}, v. t. & i.); …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Thresher shark — Taxobox name = Thresher shark fossil range = Fossil range|56|0 Early Eocene to Present [cite journal last = Sepkoski first = Jack authorlink = coauthors = title = A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry) journal =… …   Wikipedia

  • thresher shark — noun large pelagic shark of warm seas with a whiplike tail used to round up small fish on which to feed • Syn: ↑thresher, ↑thrasher, ↑fox shark, ↑Alopius vulpinus • Hypernyms: ↑shark • Member Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • thresher shark — paprastoji jūrų lapė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Alopias vulpinus angl. fox shark; thresher shark; whip tailed shark rus. акула лисица; лисья акула ryšiai: platesnis terminas – rykliai jūrų lapės …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • thresher shark — noun Date: 1888 a large nearly cosmopolitan shark (Alopias vulpinus) that has a greatly elongated curved upper lobe of the tail which is often used to thresh the water to round up the schooling fish on which it feeds see shark illustration …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • thresher shark — noun Any of three species of sharks, in the genus Alopias …   Wiktionary

  • Long-tailed thresher shark — Taxobox name = Long tailed thresher shark status = VU status system = iucn3.1 status ref = cite press release |title=More oceanic sharks added to the IUCN Red List |publisher=IUCN |date=2007 02 22 |url=http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2007/02/2… …   Wikipedia

  • Thresher — may refer to:*Threshing machine (or thresher), a device that first separates the head of a stalk of grain from the straw, and then further separates the kernel from the rest of the head *Thresher shark, a type of shark with a distinctly scythe… …   Wikipedia

  • Shark — Shark, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr. carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari as, so called from its sharp teeth, fr. ka rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth; or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. {Shark}, v. t. & i.); cf.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Shark barrow — Shark Shark, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr. carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari as, so called from its sharp teeth, fr. ka rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth; or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. {Shark}, v. t. & i.); …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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