Sharks
Tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
Epipelagic zone · Mesopelagic zone
Nicknamed "the wastebasket of the sea" for its extraordinarily opportunistic diet, it has been known to swallow objects as improbable as licence plates or tyres.
🗺️ Geographic range
Warm tropical and temperate waters worldwide, often near coasts and oceanic islands.
📊 Population
Global population declining according to the IUCN's 2019 reassessment (moved from least concern to near threatened), mainly due to targeted and incidental fishing.
⚠️ Threats
Targeted and incidental fishing
Reassessed by the IUCN in 2019, moving from least concern to near threatened, mainly due to targeted fishing and bycatch.
Source: IUCN — Red List of Threatened Species
Habitat
- Pacific Ocean · High seas / open water · Epipelagic zone · Permanent
🥚 Reproduction
Ovoviviparous, with litters of up to 80 pups.
Behaviour
- Diet
- Fish, turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, jellyfish — and pretty much anything else it finds.
- Hunting
- An opportunistic, unselective hunter, most active at night.
- Communication
- Mostly postural.
- Social life
- Generally solitary.
Physiology
- Anatomy
- Characteristic dark vertical stripes, more visible in juveniles.
- Respiration
- Gill ventilation while swimming.
- Vision
- Good night vision.
- Adaptations
- Hooked, serrated teeth able to slice through turtle shells and hard shells.
🔗 Web of marine life
⚡ Its extraordinary abilities
- The most varied diet known in any shark, including non-food objects
- Teeth able to slice through the shell of an adult sea turtle
🏆 Records
The most varied diet known in a shark
Non-food objects have been found in its stomach, alongside a wide diversity of prey.
If you cross paths with this animal…
Risk: High: the second shark most often involved in incidents with humans, after the great white.
Behaviour: Curious, can approach without warning, an opportunistic diet.
Advice: Avoid swimming at night or dusk in areas where it is present.
💡 Did you know?
- Objects as improbable as licence plates or tyres have been found in its stomach.
- Its juveniles lose their characteristic stripes as they age.
