Tiger shark Temporal range:
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In The Bahamas | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Subdivision: | Selachimorpha |
Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
Family: | Galeocerdonidae |
Genus: | Galeocerdo |
Species: | G. cuvier
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Binomial name | |
Galeocerdo cuvier | |
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Tiger shark range | |
Synonyms | |
The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)[3] is a species of ground shark, and the only extant member of the genus Galeocerdo and family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, with females capable of attaining a length of over 5 m (16 ft 5 in).[4] Populations are found in many tropical and temperate waters, especially around central Pacific islands. Its name derives from the dark stripes down its body, which resemble a tiger's pattern, but fade as the shark matures.[5]
The tiger shark is a solitary, mostly nocturnal hunter. It is notable for having the widest food spectrum of all sharks, with a range of prey that includes crustaceans, fish, seals, birds, squid, turtles, sea snakes, dolphins, and even other, smaller sharks. It also has a reputation as a "garbage eater",[5] consuming a variety of inedible, man-made objects that linger in its stomach. Tiger sharks have only one recorded natural predator, the orca.[6] It is considered a near threatened species because of finning and fishing by humans.[1]
The tiger shark is second only to the great white in recorded fatal attacks on humans, but these events are still exceedingly rare.[7][8]
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