Lamnidae

Shortfin mako

Isurus oxyrinchus

A sharp snout chasing swordfish and tuna

• Blue
• Gray
• Silver
• White
• Cross-climate
• Temperate
• Tropical
• Globally widespread
• Marine fish
• Fusiform
• Large
• Tropical fish

Renowned as the undisputed cheetah of the world's oceans, the shortfin mako is an extraordinarily fast, hydrodynamic pelagic lamnid capable of swimming speeds exceeding seventy kilometres per hour. Its torpedo-like fusiform body is cloaked along the dorsal surface in brilliant metallic cobalt-blue that transitions into shimmering silver flanks and a stark white belly. A sharply pointed, conical snout and large black eyes precede a cavernous jaw filled with smooth-edged, slender, dagger-like teeth that lack lateral cusplets and remain conspicuously visible even when the mouth is closed. Countercurrent heat exchangers elevate internal muscle and brain temperatures above surrounding waters, empowering explosive speed and leaps up to nine meters above the ocean surface. Distributed circumglobally across tropical and warm temperate offshore open oceans down to five hundred meters depth, it chases fast pelagic teleosts including tunas, swordfish, mackerels, and squid. Aplacental viviparous with uterine oophagy, maximum recorded total length reaches four hundred and forty-five centimetres.

Sources: NOAA Fisheries — Shortfin Mako Shark, Isurus oxyrinchus