Whitetip reef shark

About this species

The whitetip reef shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae. It is the only extant species of genus Triaenodon. A small shark that does not usually exceed 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in length, this species is easily recognizable by its slender body and short but broad head, as well as tubular skin flaps beside the nostrils, oval eyes with vertical pupils, and white-tipped dorsal and caudal fins. One of the most common sharks found on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, the whitetip reef shark occurs as far west as South Africa and as far east as Central America. It is typically found on or near the bottom in clear water, at a depth of 8–40 m (26–131 ft).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Whitetip reef 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: 2,526 records
February: 2,631 records
March: 3,111 records
April: 3,252 records
May: 2,763 records
June: 2,374 records
July: 2,312 records
August: 2,186 records
September: 2,490 records
October: 2,590 records
November: 2,690 records
December: 2,609 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–17 m · Deepest record: 94 m

0–10 m: 16,532 records
10–20 m: 5,428 records
20–30 m: 535 records
30–40 m: 495 records
40–50 m: 13 records
50–60 m: 13 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 411 records
26–28 °C: 30 records
28–30 °C: 404 records

Photos

(c) Doug Macaulay, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Jenni Ly, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Nathan Mesnildrey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Wiljam Eklund, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Whitetip reef shark, Blunthead Shark, White-tipped Reef Shark, whitetip reef shark, White-tip reef shark, White-tip Shark, Whitetip Shark, Whitetip Shark, Whitetip reef shark

Names in 6 more languages

German: Weißspitzen-Riffhai
Spanish: cazón coralero trompacorta, Tiburón de puntas blancas de arrecife, Tiburón punta blanca de arrecife, Tiburón Puntas Blancas de Arrecife, Tintorera
French: Aileron blanc de lagon, Requin à pointes blanches du lagon, Requin à ailerons blancs de récif, Requin à pointes blanches du lagon, Requin corail, Requin-corail
Japanese: Nemuribuka, ネムリブカ
Thai: ปลาฉลามครีบขาว
Simplified Chinese: 沙魚, 灰三齒鯊, 白鰭鯊, 鱟鮫

Other scientific names: Carcharias obesus, Traenodon obesus, Triaenodon apicalis, Trianodon obesus

Similar species

Silvertip shark
Carcharhinus albimarginatus
Grey reef shark
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos
Silky shark
Carcharhinus falciformis
Blacktip reef shark
Carcharhinus melanopterus
Spottail shark
Carcharhinus sorrah
Sliteye shark
Loxodon macrorhinus

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).
28,280 open-data records from 1837 to 2025.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.