Blacktip Shark

Carcharhinus melanopterus

The blacktip reef shark is a requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae, instantly recognisable by the bold black tips on its fins. One of the most numerous sharks on the tropical reefs of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, it favours shallow inshore water, and its exposed first dorsal fin is a familiar sight in the region. It usually keeps to reef ledges and sandy flats but will also enter brackish and even freshwater, and typically grows to about 1.6 m.

Family

Carcharhinidae

Avg Size

150-180 cm

Habitat

It occurs throughout nearshore waters of the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific. In the Indian Ocean it ranges from South Africa to the Red Sea, including Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, then eastward along the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, taking in Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands and the Maldives. In the Pacific it extends from southern China and the Philippines to Indonesia, northern Australia and New Caledonia, and reaches many oceanic islands such as the Marshall, Gilbert, Society and Hawaiian Islands and Tuamotu.

Behaviour

Often the most abundant apex predator in its habitat, it has an important hand in shaping inshore communities. Its diet is dominated by small bony fish, including mullet, groupers, grunters, jacks, mojarras, wrasses, surgeonfish and smelt-whitings, and groups in the Indian Ocean have been seen driving mullet shoals against the shore to feed more easily. It also takes squid, octopus, cuttlefish, shrimp, crabs and mantis shrimp, and more rarely carrion and smaller sharks and rays.

Where & When to See It

Fury Shoals

Blacktip Shark

Where & When to See It

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