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Blacktip reef shark

 
Blacktip Reef Shark

 
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The blacktip reef shark, Carcharhinus melanopterus, is a shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
 of tropical and warm temperate seas. It is often confused with the blacktip shark
Blacktip shark

The blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus, is a large shark, native to the continental shelf and insular shelves of tropical and warm temperate seas around the world....
, Carcharhinus limbatus.

of the most common shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
s found in shallow (sometimes as shallow as 30 cm) water around coral reef
Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
s of Indo-Pacific
Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeography region of the earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia....
 waters. The water they swim in is usually between 20 and 27° C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
 (70 to 80º F
Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit , who proposed it in 1724. Today, the scale has largely been replaced by the Celsius scale; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other countries such as Belize....
). Blacktip reef sharks do not venture into tropical lakes and rivers far from the ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
.

ts name suggests, the tips of the shark's pectoral fin and dorsal fin are black, with a white underside.






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The blacktip reef shark, Carcharhinus melanopterus, is a shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
 of tropical and warm temperate seas. It is often confused with the blacktip shark
Blacktip shark

The blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus, is a large shark, native to the continental shelf and insular shelves of tropical and warm temperate seas around the world....
, Carcharhinus limbatus.

Distribution

One of the most common shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
s found in shallow (sometimes as shallow as 30 cm) water around coral reef
Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
s of Indo-Pacific
Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeography region of the earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia....
 waters. The water they swim in is usually between 20 and 27° C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
 (70 to 80º F
Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit , who proposed it in 1724. Today, the scale has largely been replaced by the Celsius scale; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other countries such as Belize....
). Blacktip reef sharks do not venture into tropical lakes and rivers far from the ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
.

Appearance

As its name suggests, the tips of the shark's pectoral fin and dorsal fin are black, with a white underside. Its skin is brownish in color on the top half of its body. It has been recorded at up to 2 m (6.5 ft) in length and over 99 lbs (45 kg) in weight. Its snout is blunt and rounded. The gray reef shark
Gray reef shark

The gray reef shark, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, is one of the most common sharks in Indo-Pacific waters, from the Red Sea to Easter Island....
 looks similar, and is also common, but is distinguished by its stockier and grey body and its lack of a black tip on the dorsal fin.

Diet

A blacktip reef shark's diet consists mainly of reef fish, but they will also feed on ray
Ray

Ray may refer to:*Batoidea , a superorder of cartilaginous fishes**Rajiformes, "True rays" and skates*Radiation*Ray , idealized narrow beam of light...
s, crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
s, crustacean
Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s, cephalopod
Cephalopod

The cephalopods are the mollusc class Cephalopoda characterized by bilateral symmetry, a prominent head, and a modification of the mollusk foot, a muscular hydrostat, into the form of cephalopod arms or tentacles....
s, and other mollusks.

Reproduction, behavior, and interaction with humans

Reproduction is viviparous, with 2 to 4 pups in a litter. Before giving birth, female blacktip reef sharks will incubate their young for 16 months. The pups' length at birth ranges from 33 to 52 cm.

This species is not considered social, but can be seen in small groups. While generally shy, they often are curious about snorkeler
Snorkeling

Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins....
s and scuba divers
Scuba diving

SCUBA diving is Underwater diving, or taking part in another activity, while using a scuba set. By carrying a source of breathing gas , the scuba diver is able to stay underwater longer than with the simple breath-holding techniques used in snorkeling and free-diving, and is not hindered by air lines to a remote air source....
. As with most sharks, the body is bent into a sort of "S" shape when the shark feels threatened. Blacktip reef sharks are harmless unless provoked. Incidents generally involve hand feeding or spear fishing, possibly in combination with low visibility.

The blacktip is one of only a few sharks that can jump fully out of the water, a behaviour called breaching. They have also been observed surfacing to look around (spy-hopping).

Population decline

Blacktip reef sharks are often the bycatch from other fisheries and are often wasted. Their populations are declining, and so are the population of many other shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
 species. Their fins are used for shark fin soup
Shark fin soup

Shark fin soup is a delicacy that has been a popular item of Chinese cuisine since the Ming Dynasty, usually served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets....
 which is a major factor in the population decline in recent years.They don't attack humans.

See also

  • List of sharks
    List of sharks

    Shark classificationSharks belong to the superorder Selachimorpha in the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. It is a fish. The Elasmobranchii also include batoidea and skate s; the Chondrichthyes also include Chimaeras....


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