Species: Galeocerdo cuvier, Tiger Shark
snout short, blunt
large eye, spiracle behind
Galeocerdo cuvier (Peron & Lesueur in Lesueur, 1822)
Tiger Shark
Head and body stout but becoming very slender towards rear; snout very short, blunt and slightly rounded (its length 0.7-1.1 of distance between nostrils); long groove over top of mouth to under eye; spiracle present as a narrow slit behind large, round eye; mouth large, wide; teeth have characteristic cockscomb shape (serrated, front edge convex, oblique tip with a deep notch on lower rear side); five gill slits, last two over pectoral; strong ridge on back between dorsal fins; origin of dorsal fin ~over free rear tip of pectoral fin; first dorsal fin not very large (height 7.5-9.3% of TL) tip pointed, rear edge concave, free rear tip long; second dorsal fin with long free rear tip, origin distinctly in front of anal fin origin; a low keel along each side of the narrow tail base; tail fin strongly asymmetric, with sharp pointed tip, large pointed lower lobe.
Adults grey with vertical bars on upper half of sides (sometimes faint or absent); young with large dark spots, some coalescing to form bars.
Size: attains 550 cm.
Habitat: coastal pelagic, often in turbid areas, and estuaries, but also on reefs; retires to deeper water during the day, and feeds on shallow reefs at night.
Depth: 0-1112 m.
Circumtropical; southern California to Peru.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Brackish
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
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- Near Bottom
- Near Surface
- Bottom + water column
- Surface
- Bottom
- Mid Water
- Habitat
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- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Reef and soft bottom
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Estuary
- Rocks
- Corals
- Water column
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Pelagic
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Data
- Sea snakes/mammals/turtles/birds
- Sharks/rays
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Bony fishes
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Egg Type
-
- No data
- No pelagic larva
- Live birth
- Global Endemism
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- East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West)
- All Pacific (West + Central + East)
- TEP non-endemic
- All species
- East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West)
- "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific)
- Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans)
- Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America)
- Regional Endemism
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- Island (s)
- Continent
- Eastern Pacific non-endemic
- All species
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- Continent + Island (s)
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- South Temperate (Peruvian Province )
- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Near threatened
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 550
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 1112