Species: Carcharhinus limbatus, Blacktip Shark

Carcharhinus limbatus (Müller & Henle, 1839)

Blacktip Shark

Body fusiform, relatively stout; snout moderately long ( = mouth width) and narrowly pointed; eye round, small; nasal flaps low and broadly triangular; lip furrows short; upper and lower front teeth nearly symmetrical and similar, points narrow, straight, finely serrated; gill slits not long, 3rd slit 3.8-4.9% TL; first dorsal fin moderately high (8.2-13.8% of TL), broad, with a curved, pointed tip, its origin over/just behind rear insertion of pectoral fin; 2nd dorsal fin with length of free rear tip equal to height of that fin; origin of second dorsal about over anal fin origin; pectorals moderately large, curved; no ridge on back between dorsal fins; tail base without keel; tail fin strongly asymmetrical, with well developed lower lobe, undulating ridge along dorsal surface of top lobe, and a notch under tip of that lobe.

Grey brown dorsally, shading to white ventrally; a stripe of white to pale grey along midside extending into white of upper abdomen; usually black tips to all fins except usually white anal fin and usually the upper lobe of tail fin.

Reported to reach 255 cm; size at birth 38-72 cm.

Habitat: Inshore to offshore pelagic, although not oceanic, in estuaries, shallow muddy bays, saline mangrove swamps.

Depth: 0-140 m.

Circumtropical distribution; NE United States to southern Brazil.

Note: The West Atlantic population is genetically distinct from the remaining East Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations.