Blacktip reef shark

Lore & Background

French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard originally described the blacktip reef shark during the 1817–1820 exploratory voyage of the corvette Uranie. Their account was published in 1824 as part of Louis de Freycinet's 13-volume report. The type specimen was a 59 cm juvenile male caught off Waigeo, west of New Guinea. They named it Carcharias melanopterus, from Greek melas meaning 'black' and pteron meaning 'fin' or 'wing'. Subsequent authors moved it to the genus Carcharhinus, and in 1965 the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature designated it as the type species for the genus.

The blacktip reef shark is a robust, streamlined species with a short, wide, rounded snout and moderately large oval eyes. Its pectoral fins are large and narrowly falcate, and the first dorsal fin is high with a curving S-shaped rear margin. Coloration is pale grayish-brown above and white below, with an obvious white band on the sides. All fins have black tips highlighted by lighter borders. The species is timid and skittish, difficult to approach, and seldom poses a danger to humans unless roused by food, though people wading in shallow water risk mistaken bites.

Reader's Guide

The blacktip reef shark is one of the three most common sharks inhabiting coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific, along with the grey reef shark and the whitetip reef shark. It predominates in shallow habitats, while the other two are mostly found deeper. It is an active predator of small bony fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans, and has also been known to feed on sea snakes and seabirds. The species exhibits extremely small home ranges and strong site fidelity, remaining within the same local area for up to several years. A tracking study off Palmyra Atoll found a home range of around 0.55 km², among the smallest of any shark species. The blacktip reef shark is viviparous, with females giving birth to two to five young on a biennial, annual, or possibly biannual cycle; gestation period reports vary from 7–9, through 10–11, to possibly 16 months. Newborn sharks are found further inshore and in shallower water than adults, frequently roaming in large groups over areas flooded by high tide. The species is used for its meat, fins, and liver oil but is not considered commercially significant. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as Vulnerable; overfishing of this slow-reproducing shark has led to its decline at a number of locales.

Did You Know?

• Reports of its gestation period range from 7–9, through 10–11, to possibly 16 months.
• It has colonized the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a Lessepsian migrant via the Suez Canal.
• The type specimen was a 59 cm juvenile male caught off the island of Waigeo, west of New Guinea.