Lower teeth erect with smooth edges. Usually 1 or 2 symphysial teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. For example, populations in the Pacific and Indian oceans generally have a smaller size at maturation. This species feeds primarily on a variety of bony fish, cephalopods, and to a lesser extent, crustaceans. The gestation period is about 12 months.
Neonates spend first the few months in near reefs but move to the open ocean by the first winter.
In the western North Atlantic, nursery areas are located along the Caribbean islands. The silky shark is of considerable importance to longline and gillnet fisheries in many parts of the world. In the Gulf of Mexico it is often caught as bycatch in the tuna fishery but also harvested by the directed shark fishery. In the Caribbean it is sometimes fished, primarily by longline, but is not a common catch. In Japanese waters, the silky shark is commonly taken in the directed pelagic shark fishery but also in the swordfish and tuna fishery as bycatch, while around the mid-Atlantic coasts of the United States, it is fished but not in significant numbers.