smaller than females. Unconfirmed reports exist of salmon sharks reaching as much as 4.3 m (14.2 ft); however, the largest confirmed reports indicate a maximum total length of about 3.0 m (10 ft). The claims of maximum reported weight over 450 kg (992 lb) are "unsubstantiated".

Salmon sharks have a wide, double keeled tail (a second, short ridge that runs along the upper part of the lower lobe of the tail.) The only other shark with a double keeled tail is the porbeagle shark,