Sharks Codexery

Grey reef shark

First shark known to perform a threat display.

Last updated

Grey reef shark

CRED/PIFSC, NOAA · via Wikipedia: Grey reef shark · Public domain

Grey reef sharks are requiem sharks that live in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[1][2] They're among the three most common sharks on Indo-Pacific reefs.[3] The IUCN has assessed the grey reef shark as endangered.[4][1] Some populations have dropped a lot; for example, in the Chagos Archipelago, numbers fell to just 14% of what they were in the 1970s by 1996.[5]

One way to help protect them is through ecotourism, since people enjoy watching grey reef sharks on shark-watching trips.[6]

Scientific classification

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

Named by (Bleeker, 1856)

Close relatives

Other species of Carcharhinus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Grey reef shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 217337 (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
2020

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

How big is it?

Size comparison: Grey reef shark and a personA 2.6 m long grey reef shark drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.2.6 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 2.6 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

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

Where the grey reef shark has been recorded

Where the grey reef shark has been recorded189 mapped locations from 219,152 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Chagos Archipelago, French Polynesia, FakaravaIndian OceanPacific OceanChagos ArchipelagoFrench PolynesiaFakarava

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (219,152 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) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Description

A wide, black band runs along the entire rear edge of the tail fin.[7]

Biology and ecology

Grey reef sharks feed mainly on bony fishes and cephalopods, with cephalopods such as squid and octopus being the second-most important food group, and crustaceans making up the remainder.[8] Grey reef sharks are active at all times of day, with activity levels peaking at night.[9] They are viviparous, meaning the young develop inside the mother, and each female has one working ovary and two working uteri.[10][11] Females give birth to one to four pups every other year, though in Hawaii people have seen up to six.[11]

Known parasites include a type of roundworm called Huffmanela lata and several kinds of copepods and isopods.[12] These sharks hunt alone or in groups, and at Fakarava atoll in French Polynesia, people have seen hunting groups of up to 700.[8] Sexual maturation occurs around seven years of age, but females living on the Great Barrier Reef don't mature until they're 11.[11] Larger sharks, like the silvertip shark, will prey on grey reef sharks.[12]

Distribution and habitat

They mostly stick to shallow coastal waters under 60 m deep, but they sometimes dive as deep as 1000 m.[13] They like the leeward sides of coral reefs, where the water is clear and the terrain is rugged.[13]

Human interactions

They can become aggressive in the presence of food, and there have been several known attacks on spearfishers.[14][15] Multispecies fisheries catch them for products like shark fin soup.[1] When divers first enter the water, grey reef sharks are often curious and may come close, but they're not typically dangerous.[9] If you chase or corner one, it will attack.[16]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

In older books, you'll often see it called C. menisorrah.[17] Most experts now consider the blacktail reef shark to be the same species as the grey reef shark.[17] Based on body shape and other features, the grey reef shark's closest relative is thought to be the silvertip shark.[18] The oldest known fossils of this species are teeth from the Late Miocene of Brunei.[19]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Grey reef 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", Food and Agricultural Organization, 1984, p. 459–461; Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Grey Reef Shark . Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on April 29, 2009.; Simpfendorfer, C., "Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos", 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, R.A., "A review of shark agonistic displays: comparison of display features and implications for shark-human interactions", Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, March 2007, p. 3–34; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization, 1984, p. 459–461; Papastamatiou, Y.P., "Distribution and diet of four species of carcharhinid shark in the Hawaiian Islands: evidence for resource partitioning and competitive exclu 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, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Anderson, R.C., "Shortage of sharks at Chagos", Shark News, 1998, p. 1–3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robbins, W.D., "Ongoing collapse of coral reef shark populations", Current Biology, 2006, p. 2314–2319; Fowler, S.L., "Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras: The Status of the Chondrichthyan Fishes", International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2005, p. 106–109, 284–285 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Grey Reef Shark . Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on April 29, 2009.; "Coastal fishes of Oman", University of Hawaii Press, 1995, p. 29; "Aggregation behavior of the grey reef shark, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, at Johnston Atoll, Central Pacific Ocean", Environmental Biology of Fishes, 1998, p. 129–139; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization, 1984, p. 459&nd en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "ADW: Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos: INFORMATION", Animal Diversity Web; Wetherbee, B.M., "Distribution, reproduction, and diet of the gray reef shark Carcharhinus amblyrhychos in Hawaii", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 1997, p. 181–189; Bright, M., "The Private Life of Sharks: The Truth Behind the Myth", Stackpole Books, 2000, p. 74–76; "Gombessa IV expedition"; Gombessa IV on arte.tv (archive.org); Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricul en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Grey reef 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", Food and Agricultural Organization, 1984, p. 459–461 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stafford-Deitsch, J., "Red Sea Sharks", Trident Press, 1999, p. 19–24, 27–32, 74–75 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Grey reef 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", Food and Agricultural Organization, 1984, p. 459–461; Wetherbee, B.M., "Distribution, reproduction, and diet of the gray reef shark Carcharhinus amblyrhychos in Hawaii", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 1997, p. 181–189; Robbins, W.D. (2006). Abundance, demography and population structure of the grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) and the white tip reef shark (Triaenodo (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Grey Reef Shark . Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on April 29, 2009.; Whitty, J., "The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific", Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007, p. 9; Justine, J., "Huffmanela lata n. sp. (Nematoda: Trichosomoididae: Huffmanelinae) from the shark Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (Elasmobranchii: Carcharhinidae) off New Caledonia", Systematic Parasitology, July 2005, p. 181&n; "Parasitic copepods from pelagic sharks in Western Australia" en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Papastamatiou, Y.P., "Distribution and diet of four species of carcharhinid shark in the Hawaiian Islands: evidence for resource partitioning and competitive exclusion", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2006, p. 239– (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ISAF Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark. International Shark Attack File, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. Retrieved on May 1, 20; Stafford-Deitsch, J., "Red Sea Sharks", Trident Press, 1999, p. 19–24, 27–32, 74–75 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  15. "ADW: Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos: INFORMATION", Animal Diversity Web. facts only, no text reused. animaldiversity.org
  16. Wikipedia, "Grey reef 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", Food and Agricultural Organization, 1984, p. 459–461; Martin, R.A., "A review of shark agonistic displays: comparison of display features and implications for shark-human interactions", Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, March 2007, p. 3–34 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  17. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Coastal fishes of Oman", University of Hawaii Press, 1995, p. 29 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  18. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowler, S.L., "Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras: The Status of the Chondrichthyan Fishes", International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2005, p. 106–109, 284–285; Garrick, J.A.F. (1982). Sharks of the genus Carcharhinus. NOAA Technical Report, NMFS Circ. 445.; Lavery, S., "Electrophoretic analysis of phylogenetic relationships among Australian carcharhinid sharks", Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1992, p. 97–108 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  19. Wikipedia, "Grey reef shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kocsis, "First report on a diverse Neogene cartilaginous fish fauna from Borneo (Ambug Hill, Brunei Darussalam)", Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2019-05-19, p. 791–819; Höltke, "A Review of the Paleobiology of Some Neogene Sharks and the Fossil Records of Extant Shark Species", Diversity, 2024-02-26, p. 147 (original not read by us) 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 Grey reef 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.

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Test yourself

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

1. In what year was the grey reef shark first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1856.

2. To which genus does the grey reef shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Carcharhinus.

3. Who first scientifically described the grey reef shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Pieter Bleeker.

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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