Cosmopolitan. Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia, Canada to Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Senegal to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Mediterranean. Indo-Pacific: Red Sea, Madagascar and South Africa to China, Australia, Tahiti, Marquesas, and Hawaii. Eastern Pacific: Baja California, Mexico to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands.

A stout shark with a long, narrow, pointed snout, long gill slits and erect, narrow-cusped upper teeth; first dorsal fin high; no interdorsal ridge. Dark grey, ashy blue or dusky bronze on back, belly white or yellowish white; a dark band extending rearward along each side to about over origin of pelvic fin; tips of pelvic fins with a persistent black spot; tips of dorsal fins, pectoral fins, anal, and lower lobe of caudal fin usually black or dusky in young individuals, fading with growth.

An inshore and offshore shark found on or adjacent to continental and insular shelves. Often off river mouths and estuaries, muddy bays, mangrove swamps, lagoons, and coral reef drop-offs.