Silvertip shark
Silvertip shark | ||||||||||||
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Silver tip shark ( Carcharhinus albimarginatus ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Carcharhinus albimarginatus | ||||||||||||
( Rüppel , 1837) |
The silver tip shark ( Carcharhinus albimarginatus , English Silvertip Shark) belongs to the Requiem sharks (Carcharhinidae).
anatomy
It is a slender, two to three meter long shark with a long, rounded snout and a weight of up to 160 kg. The skin is dark gray or gray-brown in color, the belly is white, and all fins have white edges and tips.
Occurrence
The silvertip shark is found in the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean (South Africa to Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Maldives) and the western Pacific (Indonesia, Philippines, Tahiti) and the eastern Pacific (California to Galapagos).
The animals live between the sea surface and water depths of up to 800 meters. Silver tip sharks are usually found in the open sea. On the coral reef you can find them on the outer reef slope and on the inner reef slope above the sandy plateau.
Reproduction
This species is viviparous with 1 to 11 offspring per litter, with the animals becoming sexually mature at around 160 centimeters.
food
Its diet includes a wide range of different types of fish , but also rays and squids .
Behavior towards divers
The silvertip shark is generally cautious about divers . However, he also reacts to intruders into his territory with threatening gestures (the so-called "humpback"). Although the shark is classified as potentially dangerous in the literature, no accidents caused by this species are guaranteed. Nevertheless, according to literature, divers should treat the animals with caution and respect and withdraw in the event of threatening gestures.
literature
- Dieter Eichler, Recognizing dangerous marine animals , blv Buchverlag, ISBN 3-405-16992-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alberto Siliotti and others, Memofish Book - The Fish of the Red Sea , Geodia Verlag Verona, 2002, ISBN 88-87177-43-0
Web links
- Silver tip shark on Fishbase.org (English)
- Silver tip shark in the hai.ch database
- Carcharhinus albimarginatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Pillans, R., Medina, E. & Dulvy, NK, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2013.