Carcharhinus galapagensis
Galapagos Shark [+]

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Elasmobranchii
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Family: Carcharhinidae
Genus: Carcharhinus
species: Carcharhinus galapagensis
+ITIS +WoRMS +Conservation Status

Description & Behavior

The Galápagos shark, Carcharhinus galapagensis (Snodgrass and Heller, 1905), aka the grey reef whaler, has a low inter-dorsal ridge present and is dark gray on the dorsal side, white on the ventral side. The pectoral fins are solid gray or have slightly dusky tips. This species reaches a maximum length of 3.7 m and max weight of 86 kg.

World Range & Habitat

The Galápagos shark is a common, but habitat-limited, tropical shark found inshore as well as offshore near insular or continental shelves between 39°N-33°S at depths up to 180 m. This species prefers clear water with coral and rocky bottoms. Although it is a coastal pelagic species, it is capable of crossing considerable distances of open ocean between islands (at least 50 km). Juveniles are restricted to shallower water 25 m or less.

They are circumtropical with a preference for waters around oceanic islands and are found in the eastern Atlantic, western Indian Ocean, and south of Madagascar. They are also found in the western Pacific.

» GBIF occurrence data in Google Earth [Requirements | Tips] | Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) [World Map] | [about]

Feeding Behavior (Ecology)

This species tends to feed near the bottom but may take bait from the surface. They feed on bottom fishes and cephalopods. In the Galápagos Islands they also prey on sea lions and marine iguanas.

Life History

The Galápagos shark is viviparous with a yolk sac placenta. Six to 16 young are born per litter measuring between 60-80 cm. Mating includes distinct pairing with embrace.

Comments

The Galápagos shark is reported as aggressive and potentially dangerous to people. Another of the requiem (Family Carcharhinidae) sharks that will display a threat posture before it attacks.

The Galápagos shark is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:

NEAR THREATENED (NT)
A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.

References & Further Research

BioOne ~ CITES ~ Discover Life ~ GBIF ~ Google Scholar ~ ITIS ~ IUCN RedList ~ MarineBio Network ~ NCBI ~ SCIRIS ~ SIRIS ~ Tree of Life Web Project ~ Wikipedia

ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research - Slaughter in Paradise

Search the Web for Galapagos Shark » ARKive ~ Ask.com ~ Ask Jeeves ~ bing ~ deviantART ~ dmoz ~ Dogpile ~ Google Images ~ MySpace Images ~ OceanFootage ~ Picsearch ~ StumbleUpon ~ Yahoo! Images ~ YouTube

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Citation: Carcharhinus galapagensis, Galapagos Shark - MarineBio.org. Retrieved , from .

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Carcharhinus galapagensis Galapagos Shark [+]