Carcharias taurus
Grey nurse shark | Sand Tiger Shark | Spotted Raggedtoothed Shark
Distribution
Mediterranean, Temperate Africa, Temperate Australasia, Temperate South America, Temperate northern Atlantic, Temperate northern Pacific, Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Two large dorsal fins of nearly similar size, protruding set of needle-like teeth, and small black blotches that are most prominent in juveniles. Lives in reef gutters, often in aggregations of tens of individuals.
Information
Max Size: 320 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 15.3-28.2°C
Depth: 1-191m
Habitat Generalization Index: 3.25
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: Vulnerable
Occurrence: Infrequent (2.7% 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: Few (3 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney