Grey or grey-brown above, paler below. Expanded lateral blades of head very narrow and wing-like, with a series of small bumps along edges in front of nostrils; width across head 40 or 50% of total length. Nostrils enormously expanded, each nearly 2 times the mouth head.
 

Biology

Length: Young are born at approximately 45 cm total length (TL), maturity occurs at around 120 cm TL for females and 108 cm TL for males, and they reach a maximum size of 186 cm TL.

Gestation period: 8-11 months

Litter size: 6-25

Life expectancy: This is a slow growing species that reaches maturity at 7.2 years for females and 5.5 years for males. The oldest documented maximum age is 21 years according to vertebral analysis. Generation length is estimated to be 14 years. 

Diet: Feeds mainly on small teleost fishes but also takes crustaceans and cephalopods.

Habitat and distribution

Habitat: The winghead shark occurs on the continental shelves and is mainly found in coastal nearshore waters. 

Distribution: It occurs on and near continental shelf waters of the Indo-West Pacific from the Arabian/Persian Gulf through south Asia to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Depth: Unknown

Known landing centres: Cochin fisheries harbour, Thoothoor, Junglighat, Burma Nallah

Commercial value

The winghead shark has been heavily exploited for fins and meat across the vast majority of its range, with the exception of Australia, where, while still utilized, exploitation rates are much lower.

Threats

The Winghead Shark is heavily fished in many parts of its range, for example the Gulf of Thailand, India and Indonesia. Recent catch data from India identifies sharks to species level and has no mention of the Winghead Shark as a bycatch or byproduct species. Severe population declines are therefore also suspected as they have previously been recorded there. This pattern is expected throughout the species Asian range where fishing pressure on nearshore regions is intense and generally unregulated.

References

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