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Whitetip reef shark

 
Whitetip Reef Shark

 
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Whitetip reef shark
 
 
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The whitetip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus, is a requiem shark
Requiem shark

The requiem sharks refer to all members of the Carcharhinidae family that includes a family of migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas, sometimes also found in brackish or fresh water, such as the tiger shark, blue shark, bull shark, and milk shark....
 of the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Carcharhinidae, the only member of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Triaenodon.

whitetip reef shark is one of the most common sharks found in shallow tropical and warm temperate 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 in the Indian
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 and Pacific
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 oceans. It occurs at depths down to . Snorkelers often encounter these sharks.

ts name suggests, the tips of the shark's first dorsal fin
Dorsal fin

A wikt:dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of some fish, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, as well as the ichthyosaurs. Its main purpose is to stabilize the animal against rolling and assist in sudden turns....
 and upper caudal fin are white.






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The whitetip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus, is a requiem shark
Requiem shark

The requiem sharks refer to all members of the Carcharhinidae family that includes a family of migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas, sometimes also found in brackish or fresh water, such as the tiger shark, blue shark, bull shark, and milk shark....
 of the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Carcharhinidae, the only member of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Triaenodon.

Habitat and distribution

The whitetip reef shark is one of the most common sharks found in shallow tropical and warm temperate 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 in the Indian
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 and Pacific
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 oceans. It occurs at depths down to . Snorkelers often encounter these sharks.

Anatomy and appearance

Whitetip Reef Shark Head
As its name suggests, the tips of the shark's first dorsal fin
Dorsal fin

A wikt:dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of some fish, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, as well as the ichthyosaurs. Its main purpose is to stabilize the animal against rolling and assist in sudden turns....
 and upper caudal fin are white. The upper body is grey/brownish. Their average length is about and the maximum reported length is . Its head is broad and flat.

Diet

The whitetip reef shark feeds primarily on 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, octopus
Octopus

The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus ....
es, and fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
.

Behavior

This bottom dwelling shark is nocturnal
Nocturnal animal

As an animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleeping during the daytime and being active at night - the opposite of the diurnal animal human lifestyle, and that of those animals with which we are most familiar....
 and is often seen resting on the bottom during the day, sometimes in small groups. It is not aggressive and will generally swim away if disturbed, although it may bite if harassed. At night it hunts among crevices in the reef.

Reproduction

Reproduction is viviparous, with one to five pups in a litter
Litter (animal)

A litter is the offspring at one birth of animals from the same mother and usually from one set of parents. The word is most often used for the offspring of mammals, but can be used for any animal that gives birth to multiple young....
, the gestation period
Gestation period

I.H The gestation period in a viviparous animal is the length of its gestation. In humans this is 266 days , but varies for other animals.Gestation period is measured from fertilisation to birth....
 being at least five months. The shark's size at birth ranges from to . It is estimated that this shark can live for about 25 years and it reaches maturity after about five years.

See also

Whitetip Reef Shark
* 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....


External links

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