Sand Tiger Sharks

By: Olivia Hindman

General Information

• Common Name: Sand Tiger Shark• Scientific Name: Carcharias taurus • Kingdom: Animalia • Phylum: Chordata • Class: Chondrichthyes • Evolved 360 million years ago• Number today: there are four species

in two genera

Size and Habitat

• 100 cm at birth• Can grow up to be 6.5 to 10.5 feet

and 200 to 350 pounds. • Habitat: Found from 6 to 600 feet

deep including the surf zone, coral and rocky reefs, and the ocean floor.

• Can be found in temperate and tropical worldwide oceans except the eastern pacific.

Feeding and Breeding Habits

• Feeding: They prefer to feed on fish such as eels, mackerels, and smaller sharks.

• Hunt together to drive swarms of fish together making it easier to catch their prey.

• Breeding: Have one of the lowest reproduction rates of all sharks.

• Length of gestation is 8 to 12 months. • The mother shark bears two live pupa at a time.

She has two separate uterine chambers each containing multiple eggs. The egg that hatches first devours and kills all the other eggs.

Statistics and interesting information

• Life span: 15 years or more.• No real predators other than humans. • Facing extinction in the wild• Not dangerous to humans.• Only shark to come to the surface

and gulp for air. • Store the air in their stomachs

allowing them to float motionless in the water to hunt prey.

What humans use them for

• These sharks are usually killed by humans due to their threatening appearance.

Quiz

• 1. What is their lifespan?• 2. What do they eat?• 3. What are they the only shark

known to do at the surface?• 4. Do they hunt alone or in a group?• 5. How big are they when born?

Answer Key

• 1. 15 or more years• 2. eels, mackerels, and smaller

sharks • 3. Gulp in air• 4. Hunt in a group• 5. 100 cm at birth