Blue nurse shark

Carcharias taurus

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Critically endangered

Usual depth8–50 m
Water temperature9–28 °C
Best monthsJanuary, June, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Ventus55, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The sand tiger shark, also commonly known as the spotted ragged-tooth shark in South Africa, grey nurse shark in Australia, or blue-nurse sand tiger in India, is a species of shark that inhabits subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. It inhabits the continental shelf, from sandy shorelines and submerged reefs to a depth of around 191 m (627 ft). They dwell in the waters of East Asia, Australia, Western and Southern Africa, the Red sea, and the east coasts of North and South America. The sand tiger shark also inhabited the Mediterranean; however, it was last seen there in 2003 and is presumed extirpated. Despite its common names, it is not closely related to either the tiger shark or the nurse shark.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sand tiger shark”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 387 records
February: 215 records
March: 282 records
April: 224 records
May: 238 records
June: 336 records
July: 332 records
August: 308 records
September: 211 records
October: 289 records
November: 348 records
December: 329 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 8–50 m · Deepest record: 149.5 m

0–10 m: 230 records
10–20 m: 121 records
20–30 m: 217 records
30–40 m: 191 records
40–50 m: 89 records
50–60 m: 120 records
60–70 m: 9 records
70–80 m: 9 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–28 °C

8–10 °C: 1 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 3 records
14–16 °C: 12 records
16–18 °C: 11 records
18–20 °C: 208 records
20–22 °C: 43 records
22–24 °C: 71 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Rukaya Johaadien, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Southwood, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Blue nurse shark, Brown shark, Grey nurse, Grey nurse shark, Grey shark, Owston’s sand shark, Blue-nurse Sand Tiger, blue nurse shark, Blue Nurse Shark, brown shark, Dogfish Shark, Gray Nurse Shark, grey nurse, Grey Nurse, grey nurse shark, Greynurse Shark, Grey Nurse Shark, grey shark, Ground Shark, Indian Sand Tiger, Nuss Shark, raggedtooth shark, Ragged-tooth Shark, Ragged Tooth Shark, raggie, sand shark, Sand Shark, sand tiger, Sand Tiger, sand tiger shark, sandtiger shark, Sandtiger Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, shovel-nosed shark, Shovel-nosed Shark, shovelnose shark, Slender-tooth Shark, Smalltooth Sand Tiger, Spotted Ragged-tooth, Spotted Raggedtooth, spotted ragged-tooth shark, Spotted Ragged-tooth Shark, Spotted Raggedtooth Shark, Spotted Sand Tiger Shark, tiger shark, yellow belly, yellow shark

Names in 6 more languages

German: Grauer Sandhai, Sandhai, Sandtiger, Sandtigerhai, Schnauzenhai
Spanish: Bacota, Escalandrún, pez toro, Pez toro, sarda, tiburón, tiburón arenero tigre, tiburón de leznas, Tiburón sarda, Tiburón tigre arenero, tiburón toro, Tiburón toro, tigre arenero, toro bacota, Toro bacota
French: lamio, odontaspide taureau, Requin, requin sable tachete, requin taureau, requin-taureau, Requin taureau, verdoun
Japanese: shirowani, Shirowani, umiwani, シロワニ
Thai: ปลาฉลามเสือทราย
Simplified Chinese: 大沙, 戟齒砂鮫, 沙虎鯊, 錐齒鯊

Other scientific names: Carcharhinus taurus, Carcharias arenarias, Carcharias arenarius, Carcharias griseus, Carcharias littoralis, Carcharias owstoni, Carcharias platensis, Charcharias taurus, Eugmophodus taurus, Eugomphodus taurus, Lamna ecarinata, Odontaspis americanus, Odontaspis arenarius, Odontaspis cinerea, Odontaspis platensis, Odontaspis taurus, Squalus americanus, Squalus littoralis, Squalus lixa, Squalus macrodus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
2,155 open-data records from 1810 to 2021.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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