Whitetip reef shark

📖 Overview

Sluggish inhabitant of lagoons and seaward reefs where it is often found resting in caves or under coral ledges during the day , or usually on a sand patch, or in a channel . More active at night or during slack tide in areas of strong currents . Feeds on benthic animals such as fishes, octopi, spiny lobsters and crabs . Viviparous . Travels distances from about 0.3 to 3 km in periods up to about 1 year . Rarely reported to attack humans, but is potentially dangerous especially when fish had been speared . Probably fished wherever it occurs . Caught by inshore longline and gillnet fisheries, and probably adversely affected by dynamite fishing. Meat and liver utilized fresh for human consumption . The liver of this shark has been reported as toxic . One to five 60 cm young per litter . Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A small, slender shark with an extremely short, broad snout, oval eyes, and conspicuous white tips on the 1st dorsal (sometimes 2nd) and upper caudal fins; 2nd dorsal almost as large as 1st; no interdorsal ridge . Spiracles usually present, teeth 47-50/ 44-46, in at least 2 functional rows. Grey above, lighter below and sometimes with dark spots on sides . First dorsal-fin lobe and dorsal caudal-fin lobe with conspicuous white tips, second dorsal-fin lobe and ventral caudal-fin lobe often white-tipped .: fusiform / normal.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Whitetip reef shark is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

With its slender, lithe body, the whitetip reef shark specializes in wriggling into narrow crevices and holes in the reef and extracting prey inaccessible to other reef sharks. Alternatively, it is rather clumsy when attempting to take food suspended in open water. This species feeds mainly on bony fishes, including eels, squirrelfishes, snappers, damselfishes, parrotfishes, surgeonfishes, triggerfishes and goatfishes, as well as octopuses, spiny lobsters, and crabs. The whitetip reef shark is highly responsive to the olfactory, acoustic, and electrical cues given off by potential prey, while its visual system is attuned more to movement and/or contrast than to object details. It is especially sensitive to natural and artificial low-frequency sounds in the 25–100 Hz range, which evoke struggling fish. Whitetip reef sharks hunt primarily at night, when many fishes are asleep and easily taken. After dusk, groups of sharks methodically scour the reef, often breaking off pieces of coral in their vigorous pursuit of prey. Multiple sharks may target the same prey item, covering every exit route from a particular coral head. Each shark hunts for itself and in competition with the others in its group. Unlike blacktip reef sharks and grey reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks do not become more excited when feeding in groups and are unlikely to be stirred into a feeding frenzy. Despite their nocturnal habits, whitetip reef sharks will hunt opportunistically in daytime. Off Borneo, this species gathers around reef drop-offs to feed on food brought up by the rising current. Off Hawaii, they follow Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) and attempt to steal their catches. A whitetip reef shark can survive for six weeks without food.

🥚 Reproduction

Viviparous, placental , with 1 to 5 young per litter ; usually 2 or 3 pups after a gestation period of > 5 months. Size at birth 52-60 cm TL . Distinct pairing with embrace . During courtship and prior to copulation, the male bites the female on her right pectoral fin and uses his medially flexed right clasper in copulation . During copulation which lasts from 15 seconds to 4 minutes , both heads of the male and female are slammed in the substrate and their bodies undulate to keep their tails elevated . This mating behavior was observed in individuals bred in captivity.

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 330 m , usually 8 - 40 m . Tropical; 29°N - 30°S, 33°E - 77°W East Africa to Indonesia and the Arafura Sea (Ref.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

🛡️ Conservation Assessment

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🔍 Similar Species

🗺️ Global Occurrence Map

Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - 14 records indexed .

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