Shortfin mako shark

Shortfin mako shark
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Superorder:	Selachimorpha
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Lamnidae
Genus:	Isurus
Species:	I. oxyrinchus
Binomial name
Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810
Synonyms
click to expand Isurus oxyrhinchus Rafinesque, 1810 Isurus oxyrhincus Rafinesque, 1810 Isurus oxyrhynchus Rafinesque, 1810 Isurus spallanzani Rafinesque, 1810 Squalus cepedii Lesson, 1831 Isurus cepedii (Lesson, 1831) Lamna oxyrhina Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1835 Oxyrhina gomphodon Müller & Henle, 1839 Oxyrhina glauca Müller & Henle, 1839 Isuropsis glaucus (Müller & Henle, 1839) Isurus glaucus (Müller & Henle, 1839) Lamna glauca (Müller & Henle, 1839) Lamna latro Owen, 1853 Isuropsis dekayi Gill, 1862 Carcharias tigris Atwood, 1869 Isurus tigris (Atwood, 1869) Lamna guentheri Murray, 1884 Isurus guentheri (Murray, 1884) Lamna huidobrii Philippi, 1887 Isurus mako Whitley, 1929 Isuropsis mako (Whitley, 1929) Isurus bideni Phillipps, 1932 Isurus tigris africanus Smith, 1957 Isurus africanus Smith, 1957 Lamna punctata (non Storer, 1839) misapplied Isurus paucus (non Guitart Manday, 1966) misapplied

The shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), also known as the blue pointer or bonito shark, is a large mackerel shark. It is commonly referred to as the mako shark, as is the longfin mako shark (Isurus paucus).

"Mako" comes from the Māori language, meaning either the shark or a shark tooth. It may have originated in a dialectal variation as it is similar to the common words for shark in a number of Polynesian languages—makō in the Kāi Tahu Māori dialect,mangō in other Māori dialects, "mago" in Samoan, ma'o in Tahitian, and mano in Hawaiian. The first written usage is in Lee and Kendall's Grammar and vocabulary of the language of New Zealand (1820), which simply states, "Máko; A certain fish".Richard Taylor's A leaf from the natural history of New Zealand (1848) is more elaborate: "Mako, the shark which has the tooth so highly prized by the Maoris". In 1809, Constantine Rafinesque gave the shortfin mako the scientific name Isurus oxyrinchus (isurus means "the same tail", oxyrinchus means "pointy snout").

The shortfin mako shark is a fairly large species of shark. An average adult specimen measures around 3.2 m (10 ft) in length and weigh from 60–135 kg (132–298 lb). The species is sexually dimorphic, with females typically larger than males. The largest shortfin mako shark taken on hook-and-line was 600 kg (1,300 lb), caught off the coast of California on June 3, 2013. Larger specimens are known, with a few large, mature females exceeding a length of 3.8 m (12 ft) and a weight of 570 kg (1,260 lb). The longest verified length for a Shortfin Mako, caught off of the coast of France in September 1973, was 4.45 m (14.6 ft). It can attain bursts of speed up to 18.8 metres per second (42 mph). A specimen caught off the coast of Italy and examined in an Italian fish market in 1881 was reported to weigh an extraordinary 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) at a length of 4 m (13 ft). Growth rates appear to be somewhat accelerated in the shortfin mako in comparison to other species in the lamnid family.