White&p

Reef Sharks Triaenodon obesus

Tyler Grix

White&p Reef Shark around Coral Reefs

 Common Names for White&p Reef Sharks around the World

English language common names include white&p reef shark, blunthead shark, blunt-head shark, light-&p shark, reef white&p, reef white&p shark, white &p reef shark, white-&p reef shark, white&p shark, and white-&p shark. Common names in other languages include aileron blanc de lagon (French), arava (Tuamotuan), cazn (Spanish), cazn coralero trompacorta (Spanish), daaha (Somali), endormi requin (French), eno-eno (Gela), faana miyaru (Maldivian), gursh (Arabic), ikan yu (Malay) libaax (Somali), maog (Niuean), malu (Samoan), mamaru (Tahi&an), man ll kea (Hawaiian), marracho de covas (Portuguese)

Where White&p Reef Sharks are found in the World

Geographical Distribu&on
The white&p reef shark has a wide range in the Pacic Ocean, including South Africa and the Red Sea to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Taiwan, Riu Kiu Islands, Philippines, Australia and New Guinea. It is common in Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, northward to the Hawaiian Islands, and southwest to the Pitcairns. In the eastern Pacic, the white&p reef shark lives in waters o the Cocos and Galapagos Islands, and Panama north to Costa Rica. It is one of the most common reef sharks in the Pacic Ocean, along with the black&p reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and the grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos).

Habitat
The white&p reef shark typically lives along the boZom in clear, shallow waters surrounding coral reefs. It has been reported at depths to 1,083 feet (330 m). Rarely coming to the surface, this shark is capable of lying mo&onless on the boZom substrate for long periods of &me. During daylight hours, white&p reef sharks form aggrega&ons in caves, some&mes appearing stacked up like a pile of logs. The same sharks o_en return repeatedly to the same cave for long periods of &me, changing loca&on only periodically. The white&p reef shark is most ac&ve throughout the night. Site delity is strong with each shark maintaining a small home range for months or years at a &me.

Colora&on
The white&p reef shark earns its common name for the dis&nct white &ps on the rst dorsal and upper caudal ns. The body is dark gray to brownish, fading to a light ventral surface. Small dark spots may be present over the en&re body. The remaining ns may also have white &ps, however this may not always hold true.

Size, Age, and Growth

The white&p reef shark grow to a maximum length of just under 7 feet (2.13 m), however individuals are rare at lengths over 1.6 m (5.25 feet). Males mature at about 3.4 feet (1.05 m) and generally reach 5.5 feet (1.68 m) in length. Females reach maturity at 3.4-3.57 feet (1.05-1.09 m) and grow to at least 5.18 feet (1.58 m). This species is known to reach a maximum age of at least 25 years.

Physical Anatomy

The white&p reef shark feeds during the night on benthic prey.

Foods for white&ps sharks.

This shark is a specialist in capturing boZom-dwelling prey in caves and crevices, feeding primarily on octopus, lobsters and crabs. It also feeds on bony shes including eels, squirrelshes, snappers, damselshes, parrogishes, surgeonshes, and triggershes. During the night, this shark becomes very ac&ve, searching for prey items along the boZom substrate. When a prey item is located, the shark will pursue it into a crevice and jam itself in a_er it. The tough skin, slender build, blunt snout, and protec&ve eye ridges make it possible for the white&p reef shark to hunt successfully within these very small spaces.

Predators
Predators of the white&p reef shark include large piscivorous shes such as the &ger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) and giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus).

Tiger Shark

Importance to Humans The white&p reef shark is shed in the waters o Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar. Although data on the commercial shery involving this shark are lacking, it is also probably shed in other waters throughout its range. It is caught with oa&ng and boZom gillnets and longlines. The liver and esh is marketed for human consump&on, although it has been reported to cause ciguatera poisoning.

This shark is rela&vely harmless to humans due to its easygoing disposi&on and small teeth. It avoids close contact with humans, swimming o when approached by swimmers and divers. O_en aZracted to food, divers have been able to hand feed individual white&p reef sharks. However, on occasion, a shark will become overly excited by spearshing or when bait is present, resul&ng in a bite to a diver. This species is also known to bite if harassed. In Hawaii, some families regarded this shark as 'aumakua', a guardian spirit. They would feed rather than hunt white&p reef sharks.

Danger to Humans

Conserva&on

The white&p reef shark is currently listed by the World Conserva&on Union (IUCN) as "Near Threatened" at this &me. The IUCN is a global union of states, governmental agencies, and non- governmental organiza&ons in a partnership that assesses the conserva&on status of species. Due to restricted habitat and depth range as well as small liZer size and late age at maturity, this shark may become threatened with increasing shing pressure.

Scien&c Ar&cle
Encountered by divers, very liZle has been wriZen other than distribu&onal records. The purpose of this paper is to review what is known of the biology of this shark and to present some original data on its life history. These data were assembled incidentally to other projects, as the opportunity arose, beginning December 1966. CLASSIFICATION Carcharias obesus was described by R&ppel1 (1835: 64, pI. 18, g. 2) from a specimen from Jeddah, Red Sea. The choice of the specic name is unfortunate, for obesus is a slender species. Klausewitz (1960: 291, pI. 42, g. I, text-g. 4) illustrated the holotype and its teeth; it is housed at the Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, under number 3149. Miller and Henle (1837) proposed the genus Triaenodon, selec&ng obesus as the type species of the genus. Un&l recently most authors, including Bigelow and Schroeder (1948), have placed Triaenodon in the Triakidae.

References
hZp://www.mnh.u.edu/sh/gallery/descript/ wtreefshark/wtreefshark.html hZp://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=232 hZp://www.shark.ch/Database/Search/species.html? sh_id=1039 hZp://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/ AnimalDetails.aspx?enc=VsGX+Lst7QaeRUOw1oPluQ

Resources
hZp://www.mnh.u.edu/sh/gallery/descript/ wtreefshark/wtreefshark.html hZp://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=232 hZp://www.shark.ch/Database/Search/species.html? sh_id=1039 hZp://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/ AnimalDetails.aspx?enc=VsGX+Lst7QaeRUOw1oPluQ

White&p Reef Shark with Scuba Divers

Killer whale hun&ng

Hun&ng seals

Killer whales sounds

Killer whales hun&ng big whales

Killer whales loca&ons

White&p Reef Shark around Reef