The porbeagle has a conical snout , a first dorsal fin originating over or anterior to the pectoral fin axil, and a lunate tail with a secondary keel . The teeth are smooth edged and have lateral cusps.
Color is dark bluish gray to brown above changing abruptly to white below.
There is usually a patch of white at the trailing edge of the first dorsal fin. The makos lack the secondary keels on the tail and the lateral cusps on the teeth. The porbeagle inhabits cold-temperate waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In North America it ranges from Newfoundland to New Jersey, being locally common from southwest of the Grand Banks to Massachusetts Bay. It feeds on cod, mackerel, hake, flounder, many other fishes, and squid.