White Tipped Reef Shark

Study
Introduction
My Great Barrier Reef species study is about the white tipped reef shark and I will be looking at what they are
like, how long they live, what they eat, their different habitats, their predators, what they hunt and even their different
features that define them from other sharks. Basically I will be doing an analysis of the white tipped reef shark.
Kingdom
The white tipped reef sharks kingdom is Animalia. The different kingdoms are what scientists use to separate
different categories of life. The different categories are Animalia which is for the animals, Plantae which is for plants,
Fungi which is obviously for fungi and etc
Common Names
The white tipped reef shark has a lot of different common names which are the white tip reef shark, blunt head
shark, light tip shark, reef white tip and white tipped reef shark. The white tipped reef shark got its name from the white
tip on the tip of its fins.
Scientific Name
The white tipped reef sharks scientific name is Triaenodon Obesus. Triaenodon comes from the sharks genus
and the obesus comes from the species in which the shark is from.
Lifespan
At the Great Barrier Reef the average lifespan of a male white tip shark is 14 years but the females average
lifespan is 19 years although the maximum lifespan of a white tip shark is 25 years.
Favorite Foods
I dont know what the white tipped reef sharks favorite food is but I know a variety of different foods like
octopus, teleost fishes, crabs, goat fish
Habitat
The white tipped reef shark is one of the most commonly found sharks found in at the Great Barrier Reef. The
white tipped reef shark is commonly found in tropical marine waters which is really common at coral reefs but doesnt
normally wander around through the water mindlessly because their inside of caves and behind or under ledges. Also the
white tip shark is also recorded very commonly throughout the great barrier reef but mainly only at night.
Predators
The white tipped reef shark only really has three predators. The only other sea animals that threaten the white
tip reef shark are the silvertip shark and the tiger shark because they are both significantly bigger than the white tip reef
shark is.
Distinctive Features
The white tipped reef shark has quite a few features that make them special and different to other shark. Now
the things that identify the white tip shark are its blunt tip nose, its very distinctive white tips on its fins and scattered
grey spots on their sides.
Conservation Status
Although the white tip shark is quite common in coral reefs and mostly the Great Barrier Reef but its status is
near threatened but mostly because its fished in many places such as Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and might be
fished nearby too. They are hunted so that people can sell the sharks organs as food despite the liver being toxic. Also one
of the reasons it is getting more endangered is because it has a small rebound potential. (potential to reproduce its
numbers of sharks is little)
Conclusion
In conclusion the white tipped reef shark is a really interesting shark and I think that I am looking forward to
researching about other sharks and finding out what makes them different. When I learnt about the white tip shark in the
GBR videos I thought that it was quite a dull shark but I knew that about every animal there is something interesting and
different about them so I took a risk and chose this shark and now I have no doubts about my choice. This is my Great
Barrier Reef species study and I hope you enjoyed.

Works Cited

Arkive. White Tip Reef Shark. s.d. Arkive. 8 de April de 2014.
Cathleen Bester. White Tip Reef Shark. s.d. Ichthyology. 8 de April de 2014.
Feldkamp, Andrew. Triaenodon Obesus Whitelip Reef Shark. 2005. Animal Diversity Web. 8 de
April de 2014.
Marinebio. Whitetip Reef Sharks. s.d. Marinebio. 8 de April de 2014.
Mark McGrouther. White Tip Reef Shark (Triaenodon Obesus). 21 de 7 de 2012. Nature Culture
Discover. 8 de April de 2014.
Protexya. Definition for Kingdom. 2012. Yahoo Answers. 8 de April de 2014.
Wikipedia. Whitetip reef shark. 10 de October de 2013. Wikipedia. 8 de April de 2014.