Blacktip reef shark

Carcharhinus melanopterus · The blacktip reef shark is a requiem shark with black-tipped fins that lives in shallow waters around tropical coral reefs of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Also called Black tip reef shark.

Blacktip reef shark
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Blacktip reef shark
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Blacktip reef shark
Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassChondrichthyes
OrderCarcharhiniformes
FamilyCarcharhinidae
GenusCarcharhinus
SpeciesCarcharhinus melanopterus

Where it lives

Shallow reefs, lagoons and sandy flats of the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans, from South Africa and the Red Sea to Hawaii.

Fun facts

  • Blacktip reef sharks have one of the smallest home ranges of any shark, around 0.55 square kilometres at Palmyra Atoll.
  • Groups of these sharks in the Indian Ocean have been seen herding schools of mullet against the shore to make them easier to eat.
  • Blacktip reef sharks have been documented eating seabird chicks that fell from their nests into the water.
  • A blacktip reef shark's eyes lack cone cells, so it sees colour and fine detail poorly but is good at spotting movement in dim light.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).