title: Insights into the life history and ecology of a large shortfin mako shark Isurus oxyrinchus captured in southern California.
abstract: In June 2013, a record-breaking female Isurus oxyrinchus (total length 373 cm, mass 600 kg) was captured by rod and reel off Huntington Beach, California, where it was subsequently donated to research and provided a rare opportunity to collect the first data for a female I. oxyrinchus of this size. Counts of vertebral band pairs estimate the shark to have been c. 22 years old, depending upon assumptions of band-pair deposition rates, and the distended uteri and spent ovaries indicated that this shark had recently given birth. The stomach contained a c. 4 year-old female California sea lion Zalophus californianus that confirmed the high trophic position of this large I. oxyrinchus, which was corroborated with the high levels of measured contaminants and tissue isotope analyses.
authors.affiliation: California State University Long Beach, Department of Biological Sciences, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840, U.S.A.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.affiliation: Ocean Associates, Incorporated, 4007 N Abingdon Street, Arlington, VA 22207, U.S.A.|Fisheries Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, U.S.A.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Preti
authors.affiliation: School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, 105 Dana Hall, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000, U.S.A.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Madigan
authors.affiliation: Texas A & M University Galveston, Department of Marine Biology, 1001 Texas Clipper Rd, Galveston, TX 775543, U.S.A.
authors.forename: R J D
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: California State University Long Beach, Department of Biological Sciences, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840, U.S.A.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Blasius
authors.affiliation: Ocean Associates, Incorporated, 4007 N Abingdon Street, Arlington, VA 22207, U.S.A.|Fisheries Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, U.S.A.
authors.forename: O E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Snodgrass
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University, Biology Department, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, U.S.A.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kacev
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, U.S.A.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dewar
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, U.S.A.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohin
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), The University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, U.K.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.affiliation: California State University Long Beach, Department of Biological Sciences, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840, U.S.A.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D002140:California; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D007554:Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D009929:Organ Size; D012754:Sharks / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes
keywords: contaminants; foraging ecology; life history; management