Silky Shark

Slim and streamlined, the silky shark has a fairly long, rounded snout with barely developed flaps of skin in front of the nostrils. The circular, medium-sized eyes are equipped with nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids). Short, shallow furrows are present at the corners of the mouth. 14–16 and 13–17 tooth rows are found on either side of the upper and lower jaws, respectively (typically 15 for both). The upper teeth are triangular and strongly serrated, with a notch in the posterior edge; they are erect at the center and become more oblique towards the sides. The lower teeth are narrow, erect, and smooth-edged. The five pairs of gill slits are moderate in length.

The silky shark has a cosmopolitan distribution in marine waters warmer than 23 °C (73 °F). In the Atlantic Ocean, it is found from Massachusetts (USA) to Spain in the north, and from southern Brazil to northern Angola in the south, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. In the Mediterranean Sea, it has been recorded first in the Alboran Sea, subsequently in Algerian waters, the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia) and more recently in the Ligurian Sea. It occurs throughout the Indian Ocean, as far south as Mozambique in the west and Western Australia in the east, including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In the Pacific Ocean, the northern extent of its range runs from southern China and Japan to southern Baja California and the Gulf of California, while the southern extent runs from Sydney, Australia, to northern New Zealand to northern Chile.

The silky shark is an opportunistic predator, feeding mainly on bony fishes from all levels of the water column, including tuna, mackerel, sardines, mullets, groupers, snappers, mackerel scads, sea chubs, sea catfish, eels, lanternfishes, filefishes, triggerfishes, and porcupinefishes. It may also take squid, paper nautilus, and swimming crabs, and fossil evidence indicates it scavenged on whale carcasses. Good feeding opportunities can draw silky sharks in large numbers; one such feeding aggregation in the Pacific has been documented "herding" a school of small fishes into a compact mass (a bait ball) and trapping it against the surface, whereupon the sharks consumed the entire school. When attacking tightly packed fish, silky sharks charge through the ball and slash open-mouthed, catching the prey fish at the corners of their jaws.

The silky shark is one of the three most common pelagic sharks along with the blue and oceanic whitetip sharks, and counts among the most numerous large oceanic animals in the world with a population of at least tens of millions. Compared to the other two species, it is less strictly pelagic with the greatest numbers found in offshore waters associated with land, where food is more readily obtained than farther out in the truly open ocean. The silky shark is an active, inquisitive, and aggressive predator, though it will defer to the slower but more powerful oceanic whitetip shark in competitive situations. When approaching something of interest, it may seem inattentive, sedately circling and sometimes swinging its head from side to side. However, it can respond with startling swiftness to any shift in its immediate surroundings.

Given its formidable size and dentition, the silky shark is regarded as potentially dangerous to humans. However, it only rarely comes into contact with people due to its oceanic habits. Its natural curiosity and boldness may lead it to repeatedly and closely approach divers, and it can become dangerously excited in the presence of food. The silky shark tends to be more aggressive if encountered on a reef than in open water. Cases of individual sharks persistently harassing divers and even forcing them out of the water have been reported. As of May 2009, the International Shark Attack File lists six attacks attributable to the silky shark, three of them unprovoked and none fatal.