White Tip Reef Sharks

Name: White Tip Reef Shark
Scientific Name: Triaenodon obesus
Length: About 5 feet
Weight: Close to 40 pounds

White Tip Reef Sharks are easy to spot aside from the other sharks. This is mostly because of their dorsal fins. Their dorsal fins are all grey and have a white "dipped" look on the tip (which gives the name "White Tip"). They have shorter, more broad heads and more slender bodies. Their eyes are oval shaped and they have slit-shaped pupils. Their snouts are flattened and very blunt. If you see a shark, and all of these fit its description, you saw (or are seeing) a White Tip Reef Shark.

This type of shark is a night feeder -- similar to many other sharks. They're usually inactively spending their days inside caves, and emerge at night to hunt down and feed on their prey.
They're prey commonly consists of bony fish, crustaceans, and octopus. They hunt in groups.
The shape of their bodies actually help them to squeeze into some cracks and crevasses to get their hidden prey.

These sharks mate once a year. They give birth to between 1 and 6 shark pups every year. White Tip Reef Sharks are one of few species of sharks to be observed mating in the wild. The female's gestation period is about 10 to 13 months long.


White Tip Reef Sharks are rarely, if at all, found near America. However, they can sometimes be found inside underwater lava tubes in Hawaii. They live more on the reefs of the Indo-Pacific. They can be found laying on the more open, sandy flats of Costa Rica. They also like to stay in higher populated areas and very seldom move to new areas.


Tiger Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, and Silvertip Sharks often prey on the White Tip Reef Sharks. These sharks can also occasionally be found in the stomach of a Giant Grouper fish, although the Giant Groupers are rare.


White Tip Reef Sharks may swim closer to a diver then other sharks, but they rarely become aggressive. When they do, it's because the attack was provoked. However, they will readily steal the catches of spear fishermen. This will usually result in a bite from the shark, but it wasn't directed at the fisherman, it was directed to the catch. They have only been blamed for five attacks on humans. Two of which were provoked, three unprovoked. The unprovoked attacks were due to feeding them and spear fishing. And really, that shouldn't even be considered unprovoked because there were good reasons as to why it happened, they weren't trying to bite you on purpose, and in a way both of those things like provoking an attack.


Many fisheries in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Pakistan, and India catch these sharks. They're taken in for their meat and livers. However, it's proven that shark meat may be extremely unhealthy.
And because of their slower reproduction rate, low dispersal, and restricted habitat, overfishing often makes it harder for them to keep recovering. They are at risk of becoming another threatened species of shark.


This is my knowledge of the White Tip Reef Shark, Hope you've enjoyed reading. :)


Image courtesy of www.aquariumofpacific.org