Sharks Codexery

Blackspot shark

A small requiem shark with a black-spotted second dorsal fin.

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Blackspot shark

Tassapon KRAJANGDARA · via Wikipedia: Blackspot shark · CC BY 3.0

The blackspot shark is a small, slender shark that lives in shallow coastal waters across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[1] Its most noticeable feature is the large, triangular black spot on its second dorsal fin.[2] This species is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN due to heavy fishing pressure in its shallow-water habitats.[3][4]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderCarcharhiniformes
  7. FamilyCarcharhinidae
  8. GenusCarcharhinus
  9. SpeciesCarcharhinus sealei

Named by (Pietschmann, 1913)

Close relatives

Other species of Carcharhinus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Blackspot shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 217336 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Vulnerable (VU)

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU▲ this species
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2021

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Blackspot shark and a personA 0.95 m long blackspot shark drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.95 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.95 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

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

Where the blackspot shark has been recorded

Where the blackspot shark has been recorded22 mapped locations from 138 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (138 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 10 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Description

The blackspot shark grows to a length around 95 cm and has a streamlined, slender body.[2] This shark has a pretty long snout that comes to a point or is a bit rounded at the tip.[2] On both the top and bottom jaws, you usually see 12 rows of teeth on each side, though it can be anywhere from 11 to 13 rows.[2] You might mix up the blackspot shark with the whitecheek shark, but that one has a triangular first dorsal fin that's only slightly curved and a small second dorsal fin with just a dark edge.[5]

Biology and ecology

It grows fast and doesn't live very long.[6] Like other sharks in its group, the blackspot shark gives birth to live young that develop inside the mother.[7]

Distribution and habitat

It doesn't usually hang out in estuaries and might not like water with low salt levels.[1]

Human interactions

The blackspot shark is not dangerous to people.[6] People fish heavily in the shallow waters where it lives, using longlines and gillnets, so the species might be getting overfished.[3] No one has done a detailed count of how many are out there, but experts think the population is going down.[3]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Blackspot shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Blackspot shark (Carcharhinus sealei)", Sharks of the World; "Blackspot shark (Carcharhinus sealei)", Sharks of the World (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Blackspot shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Blackspot shark (Carcharhinus sealei)", Sharks of the World; "Carcharhinidae: Requiem sharks" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Blackspot shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dulvy, N.K., "Carcharhinus sealei", 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. IUCN Red List assessment (category and year as redistributed in GBIF's IUCN Red List checklist). IUCN Red List terms: fact (category, year) cited, no text reused. iucnredlist.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Blackspot shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carpenter, Kent E., "Carcharhinus sealei (Pietschmann, 1913)", FishBase; "Whitecheek shark (Carcharhinus dussumieri)", Sharks of the World (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Blackspot shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Blackspot shark (Carcharhinus sealei)", Sharks of the World (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Blackspot shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Van Der Elst, "A Guide to the Common Sea Fishes of Southern Africa", Struik, 1993, p. 367 (we also read that source) 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 Blackspot 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

Same family (Carcharhinidae)

Atlantic sharpnose shark Rhizoprionodon terraenovaeBorneo broadfin shark Lamiopsis tephrodesBrazilian sharpnose shark Rhizoprionodon lalandiiBroadfin shark Lamiopsis temminckiiGanges shark Glyphis gangeticus

More in Reef sharks

Requiem sharkAbdouniaBlue sharkRiver sharkWhitetip reef sharkCarcharhinusAustralian blacktip sharkBignose sharkBlacknose sharkBlacktip reef sharkBlacktip sharkBorneo shark

Elsewhere in Sharks

Nurse shark · Carpet sharksZebra shark · Carpet sharksFrilled shark · Dogfish sharks and relativesCookiecutter shark · Dogfish sharks and relativesGreat hammerhead · Hammerhead sharksThresher shark · Mackerel sharks

Test yourself

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

1. What is the scientific name of the blackspot shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Carcharhinus sealei.

From the source: “The blackspot shark (Carcharhinus sealei) is a small species of requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean between latitudes 24°N and 30°S, from the surface to a depth around 40 m.”

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

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Vulnerable.

From the source: “The blackspot shark is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN in its Red List of Threatened Species.”

3. To which genus does the blackspot shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Carcharhinus.

From the source: “The blackspot shark (Carcharhinus sealei) is a small species of requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean between latitudes 24°N and 30°S, from the surface to a depth around 40 m.”

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.

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