Featured Creature

Silvertip Reef Shark

Silvertip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus albimarginatus)

Size – up to 10 feet (3 meters)

Distribution – Western Indian Ocean & Pacific Ocean

Diet – primarily bony fish; occasionally rays, smaller sharks, and octopus

Threats & Predators – humans (longline fishing, tuna gillnet fishing, shark fin soup)

Cool Fact – Silvertip reef sharks are viviparous, meaning that embryos develop inside the mother, who then gives birth to live young.  A female silvertip reef shark can bear up to eleven offspring in a litter, after a gestation period of about a year.

Photo credit: Jeff Yonover