hark with tiger-like spots

About this species

The zebra shark, also known as the Indo-Pacific leopard shark, is a species of carpet shark and the only extant member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of 62 m (200 ft). Zebra sharks are distinctive in appearance, with adults possessing five longitudinal ridges on a cylindrical body, a low caudal fin comprising nearly half the total length, and typically a pattern of dark spots on a pale background. Young zebra sharks under 50–90 cm (20–35 in) long have a completely different pattern, consisting of light vertical stripes on a brown background, and lack the ridges. This species attains a length of 2.5 m (8.2 ft).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Zebra 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: 201 records
February: 237 records
March: 241 records
April: 265 records
May: 102 records
June: 92 records
July: 51 records
August: 68 records
September: 110 records
October: 192 records
November: 256 records
December: 297 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–23 m · Deepest record: 287 m

0–10 m: 488 records
10–20 m: 188 records
20–30 m: 47 records
30–40 m: 23 records
40–50 m: 11 records
50–60 m: 11 records
60–70 m: 8 records
70–80 m: 5 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 19–29 °C

18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 519 records
24–26 °C: 30 records
26–28 °C: 32 records
28–30 °C: 17 records

Photos

(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Daniel Eisenhauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Galewski, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jeremy Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Daniel Eisenhauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: hark with tiger-like spots, Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark, leopard shark, monkey-mouth, nurse shark, sea tiger, tiburón acebrado, tiger shark, variegated shark, zebra shark

Names in 5 more languages

Filipino: butanding
French: requin zèbre
Indonesian: Hiu belimbing
Japanese: Torafuzame, トラフザメ
Thai: Chalam sue gao

Other scientific names: Scyllia quinquecornuatum, Scyllium heptagonum, Squalus cirrosus, Squalus fasciatus, Squalus longicaudus, Squalus pantherinus, Squalus tigrinus, Squalus tygrinus, Squalus varius, Stegastoma fasciatum, Stegastoma varium, Stegostoma carinatum, Stegostoma fasciata, Stegostoma fasciatum, Stegostoma fasciaturn, Stegostoma fasciatus, Stegostoma tigrinurn, Stegostoma tigrinus, Stegostoma varium, Stegostoma varius

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).
1,374 open-data records from 1783 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.