Carcharhinus albimarginatus
Silvertip Shark
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean, Tropical Eastern Pacific, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Prominent white tips on fins and tail. Differs from Triaenodon obsesus (whitetip reef shark) by its more powerful body, small 2nd dorsal and anal fins, and more extensive white markings around tail fin, particularly lower lobe. Differs from C. longimanus (oceanic whitetip shark - not shown) by its relatively small triangular 1st dorsal fin. Occasionally sighted on oceanic reef drop-offs.
Information
Max Size: 300 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.5-30.9°C
Depth: 1-800m
Habitat Generalization Index: 0.48
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Near Threatened
Occurrence: Infrequent (2.8% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: extract from RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland