Carcharias taurus
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Lamniformes (Mackerel Sharks)
Odontaspididae (Sand Tigers)
Carcharias
Carcharias taurus (Sand Tiger)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Rather stout bodied, with a relatively short, pointed, flattened snout and a relatively long, low caudal fin. Snout is narrowly rounded to acute. Lower jaw has well-developed labial furrows. Teeth have prominent, narrow cusp and lateral cusp on each side. Three relatively large tooth rows occur on either side of symphysis of upper jaw, and these are separated from large lateral teeth by small tooth. Eye is relatively small. Two dorsal fins and anal fin are about equal in size. First dorsal fin is located closer to pelvic fin base than to pectoral fin base. Origin of second dorsal fin is posterior to base of pelvic fin. Caudal fin has well-developed ventral lobe.
Color is light brown to greenish gray dorsally and grayish white ventrally, with yellowish brown to reddish spots dorsally.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs from the Gulf of Maine to southern Brazil, including Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bahamas.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate seas, from the shoreline to 191 m.
Biology
Food consists of benthic crustaceans, squids, sharks, skates, rays, and a large variety of bony fishes.
Maximum known size is 310 cm TL.
Embryonic development is ovophagous, and a single embryo develops in each uterus. Males mature at 220 to 257 cm TL, females mature at 220 to 300 cm TL, and young are 95 to 105 cm TL at birth.
A common littoral shark found inshore from the surf zone and in shallow bays to at least 191 m on the outer continental shelves (Ref. 13568). Often on or near the bottom but also occurs in midwater or at the surface (Ref. 247). Only shark known to gulp and store air in its stomach to maintain neutral buoyancy while swimming (Ref. 13568). Found singly or in small to large schools (Ref. 247). Feeds on bony fishes, small sharks, rays, squids, crabs, and lobsters (Ref. 5578). Ovoviviparous, embryos feeding on yolk sac and other ova produced by the mother as well as other siblings in the womb (uterine cannibalism) (Ref. 50449). Usually gives birth to 2 pups after a 9-12 months gestation period (Ref.58048). A migratory species in parts of its range, particularly in its northern and southern extremities where pronounced poleward migration occur in the summer and equatorial movements in autumn and winter (Ref. 247). Usually inoffensive and not aggressive when not provoked (Ref. 247) but has known to bite swimmers and be aggressive towards divers with speared fish (Ref. 6586). Utilized for fresh, frozen, smoked and dried for human consumption (Ref. 247); also for fishmeal, liver oil, fins, and hides for leather (Ref. 13568). Flesh highly appreciated in Japan (Ref. 36731).
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR), assessed 2020-12-07. Resilience: Very low (Fec=2; K=0.14-0.17; tmax=17).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b
Springer 1948
Hoese and Moore 1977
Castro 1983
Gilmore et al. 1983
Compagno 1984
Quero 1984a
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Compagno, L.J.V. (1984) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome, FAO.
van der Elst, R.P. and F. Adkin (eds.) (1991) Marine linefish: priority species and research objectives in southern Africa. Oceanogr. Res. Inst., Spec. Publ. No.1. 132 p.
Compagno, L.J.V., D.A. Ebert and M.J. Smale (1989) Guide to the sharks and rays of southern Africa. New Holland (Publ.) Ltd., London. 158 p.
Bass, A.J. and L.J.V. Compagno (1986) Odontaspididae. p. 104-105. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens (1994) Sharks and rays of Australia. CSIRO, Australia. 513 p.
Murdy, E.O., R.S. Birdsong and J.A. Musick (1997) Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Smithsonian Institution Press Washington and London. 324 p.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
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