Sharks Codexery

Zebra shark

A nocturnal carpet shark with striped juveniles and spotted adults.

Last updated

Zebra shark

Felix Frost-Savage · via Wikipedia: Zebra shark · CC BY-SA 4.0

Zebra sharks are bottom-dwellers that live in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region.[1][2] Adults are spotted, while juveniles have bold stripes, and these sharks are slow-moving and harmless to people.[3][4]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderOrectolobiformes
  7. FamilyStegostomatidae
  8. GenusStegostoma
  9. SpeciesStegostoma tigrinum

Named by (Forster, 1781)

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Zebra shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 313100 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Endangered (EN)

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN▲ this species
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2024

Source: IUCN Red List assessment

How big is it?

Size comparison: Zebra shark and a personA 2.5 m long zebra shark drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.2.5 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 2.5 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Zebra shark

Where the zebra shark has been recorded

Where the zebra shark has been recordedPlaces named in the text; marked places: Red Sea, QueenslandRed SeaQueensland

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Description

The last three of its five short gill slits sit over the pectoral fin bases.[5] There's a rare color form called the sandy zebra shark: it's sandy-brown with faint dark brown freckles on top, and it doesn't have the usual spots or bands.[3][6] This shark's body is shaped like a cylinder, and it has a big head that's a bit flat on top, plus a short, rounded snout.[5] A short barbel sits by each nostril, and a groove runs from there to the mouth, which is almost straight across and has three lobes on its lower lip.[5]

In the upper jaw you'll find 28 to 33 rows of teeth, and in the lower jaw there are 22 to 32 rows; each tooth has one big central point with two smaller ones on either side.[7] A zebra shark can reach 2.5 meters in length, with one unconfirmed report of a 3.5-meter individual.[3] Back in 1964, people found a partially albino zebra shark in the Indian Ocean: a fully grown female that was 1.9 meters long, completely white with no spots, but with the usual blackish-brown eyes.[8]

Biology and ecology

During the day, zebra sharks are sluggish and usually rest on the sea bottom, sometimes propping up the front part of their bodies with their pectoral fins.[9] They get more active once the sun goes down or whenever food shows up.[9] These sharks are powerful, agile swimmers that move by making eel-like wiggles with their body and tail.[10] Because their bodies are slender and flexible, they can squirm into tight holes and cracks to hunt, and they use a strong sucking force to pull out their prey.[7]

Scientists know of four species of tapeworms, all in the group called Pedibothrium, that live on these sharks as parasites.[8] Zebra sharks usually hang out by themselves, but people have seen groups of 20 to 50 of them together.[11] Every summer off southeast Queensland, hundreds of zebra sharks gather in shallow water, and these groups are made up entirely of big adults, with almost three times as many females as males.[11][12] Scientists have seen females lay up to 46 eggs over 112 days. They usually lay them in batches of about four.[13]

In captivity, the eggs hatch after four to six months, depending on how warm it is. The babies are 20 to 36 cm long, and their tails are longer compared to their bodies than an adult's tail is.[14] Male zebra sharks become able to reproduce when they're 1.5 to 1.8 meters long, and females when they're 1.7 meters long.[15] In the wild, these sharks are thought to live for 25 to 30 years.[15] During courtship, the male follows the female and bites vigorously at her pectoral fins and tail. Sometimes he holds onto her fin while both lie still on the bottom.[16]

Distribution and habitat

You can find zebra sharks in warm tropical waters from South Africa to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, over to India and Southeast Asia, up to Taiwan and Japan, east to New Caledonia and Tonga, and down to northern Australia.[1] Zebra sharks will sometimes swim across open ocean to get to isolated seamounts, and people have recorded them moving as far as 140 km.[2] Genetic information shows that different groups of zebra sharks don't mix much, even when their home ranges are right next to each other.[2]

Human interactions

These sharks are calm and slow, so they're not dangerous to people, and you can easily swim up close to them underwater.[4] As of 2008, the International Shark Attack File has only one record of an unprovoked bite from a zebra shark, and nobody got hurt.[4] The small, colorful babies sometimes end up in the private pet trade, but these sharks get way too big for a home aquarium.[7] Commercial fisheries catch zebra sharks across most of their range using bottom trawls, gillnets, and longlines, and then sell the meat fresh or dried and salted for people to eat.[7]

Because they live in shallow water and don't move much between populations, zebra sharks are very vulnerable to being wiped out locally, and market studies suggest they're a lot less common now than they used to be.[17]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Seba gave the first scientific description of the zebra shark in 1757, calling it Squalus varius, but he didn't pick a type specimen to go with it.[18] The genus name Stegostoma comes from Greek words meaning "covered" and "mouth," and the species name fasciatum means "banded," which is a nod to the striped look of the young sharks.[19] In 1837, Müller and Henle placed this shark in the genus Stegostoma and used the species name fasciatus (or fasciatum).[18] Right now, people use both S. fasciatum and S. varium, but a 2019 review of the group argued that the correct name is actually S. tigrinum.[18]

Forster described Squalus tigrinus in 1781, which is two years before Squalus fasciatus was described, so tigrinus is the older name and should be the valid one, as Stegostoma tigrinum.[6] Looking at their body structures, there's strong evidence that the zebra shark, the whale shark, and the nurse sharks all belong to a single evolutionary group.[20] But scientists disagree about exactly how these species are related to each other, and different researchers have suggested different closest relatives for the zebra shark.[20]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Zebra Shark. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on May 12, 2009. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Zebra Shark. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on May 12, 2009.; Dudgeon, C.L., "Abundance and demography of a seasonal aggregation of zebra sharks Stegostoma fasciatum", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2008, p. 269–281; Dudgeon, C.L., "Abundance and demography of a seasonal aggregation of zebra s en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Dudgeon, C.L., "Abundance and demography of a seasonal aggregation of zebra sharks Stegostoma fasciatum", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2008, p. 269–281 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Zebra Shark. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on May 12, 2009. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Coastal Fishes of Oman", University of Hawaii Press, 1995, p. 20 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Sandy Zebra Shark: A New Color Morph of the Zebra Shark Stegostoma tigrinum, with a Redescription of the Species and a Revision of Its Nomenclature", Copeia, 2019, p. 524–541 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, R.A. (January 31, 1999). Albino Zebras and Leopards Changing Their Spots. ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research. Retrieved on May 12, 2009. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, R.A., "Coral Reefs: Zebra Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Martin, R.A., "Coral Reefs: Zebra Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Conservation Status of Australasian Chondrichthyans: Report of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Australia and Oceania Regional Red List Workshop", IUCN, 2003, p. 60–61 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dudgeon, C.L., "Abundance and demography of a seasonal aggregation of zebra sharks Stegostoma fasciatum", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2008, p. 269–281 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives", Special Publication of the Ohio Biological Survey, 2004, p. 493–497; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Rigby, C.L., "Stegostoma tigrinum", 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives", Special Publication of the Ohio Biological Survey, 2004, p. 493–497; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, R.A., "Coral Reefs: Zebra Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Zebra Shark. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on May 12, 2009.; "Zebra shark at centre of 'virgin birth' mystery" (January 5, 2012). BBC News. Retrieved on January 5, 2012.; Cummins, Anna, "Zebra shark surprises scient en.wikipedia.org
  16. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives", Special Publication of the Ohio Biological Survey, 2004, p. 493–497 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  17. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  18. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, R.A. (January 31, 1999). Albino Zebras and Leopards Changing Their Spots. ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research. Retrieved on May 12, 2009.; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002, p. 184–188; Martin, R.A. (January 31, 1999). Albino Zebras and Leopards Changing Their Spots. ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research. Retrieved on May 12, 2009.; "The Sandy Zebra Shark: A New Color Morph of the Zebra Shark Stegostom en.wikipedia.org
  19. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Zebra Shark. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on May 12, 2009.; "A Guide to the Common Sea Fishes of Southern Africa", Struik, 1993, p. 63 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  20. Wikipedia, "Zebra shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goto, T., "Comparative Anatomy, Phylogeny and Cladistic Classification of the Order Orectolobiformes (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii)", Memoirs of the Graduate School of Fisheries Science, Hokkaido University, 2001, p. 1; Dingerkus, G., "Indo-Pacific fish biology: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Indo-Pacific Fishes", Ichthyological Society of Japan, 1986, p. 227–245; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Orga en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Zebra shark (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Coral reefCrustaceanTiger sharkLatinSexual dimorphismGeneticsIntertidal zoneCloaca

More in Carpet sharks

Whale sharkNurse sharkWobbegong

Elsewhere in Sharks

Shortfin mako · Mackerel sharksBlackspot shark · Reef sharksDusky shark · Reef sharksSilky shark · Reef sharksNorthern river shark · Reef sharksScoliodon · Reef sharks

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. To which biological family does the zebra shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Stegostomatidae.

From the source: “The zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum), also known as the Indo-Pacific leopard shark, is a species of carpet shark and the only extant member of the family Stegostomatidae.”

2. What is the IUCN Red List category of the zebra shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Endangered.

From the source: “The World Conservation Union has assessed this species as Endangered worldwide, as it is taken by commercial fisheries across most of its range (except off Australia) for meat, fins, and liver oil.”

3. To which genus does the zebra shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Stegostoma.

From the source: “The zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum), also known as the Indo-Pacific leopard shark, is a species of carpet shark and the only extant member of the family Stegostomatidae.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →